History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria Volume 8

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By G. MASPERO, Honorable Doctor of Civil Laws,
and Fellow of Queen s College, Oxford ; Member of
the Institute and Professor at the College of France

Edited by A. H. SAYCE, Professor of Assyriology, Oxford

Translated by M. L. McCLURE, Member of
the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund

VOL. VIII

Containing over Twelve Hundred
Colored Plates and Illustrations

THE G R O L I E R SOCIETY
PUBLISHERS A A A LONDON

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JUN 1 2 !53

Printed by

WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
LONDON

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

SENNACHERIB (705-681 B. C.)

The Struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt Destruction of

Babylon 3

CHAPTER II.

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH ESARHADDON AND ASSUR - BANI -

PAL

The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia The Conquest of Egypt, of Arabia,

and of Elam . 81

CHAPTER III.

THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

The Fall of Nineveh and the Rise of the Chaldaean and Median
Empires The XXVIth Egyptian Dynasty : Cyaxares, Alyattes, and
Nebuchadrezzar 264

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Frieze of Archers at Susa Frontispiece

Clay seal with Cartouche of Sabaco . .11

A Phoenician galley with two banks of oars ...... 17

The Pass of Legnia, in Lebanon ........ 28

Guard at the water-mill .......... 29

Sennacherib receiving the submission of the Jews in his camp before Lachish 31

A raid among the woods and mountains ....... 43

The fleet of Sennacherib on the Nar-Marratum ...... 49

A skirmish in the marshes ... ... ... 52

The horse of Nergal-Ushezib falling in the battle ..... 54

The mounds of Nineveh seen from the terrace of a house in Mosul . . 63

King Sennacherib watching the transport of a colossal statue . , . 65

Assyrian bas-reliefs at Bavian . . .66

Unknown subjects painted in the Fifth Tomb of the Eastern Kings . . 68

Great Assyrian Stele at Bavian . .69

An Assyrian cavalry raid through the woods 73

Transport of a winged bull on a sledge 74

Sennacherib 79

One of the Egyptian ivories found in Assyria ,83

Stone lion at Hamadan 87

View of Hamadan and Mount Elvend in winter 88

Monument commemorative of Midas 95

A Phrygian god 96

The mother-goddess between lions ....... 97

The mother-goddess and Atys 98

The god-men associated with the sun and other deities .... 99

The steep banks of the Halys failed to arrest them 104

View over the plain of Sardes 105

A conflict with two griffins HO

Scythians armed for war ......,. HI

Inhabited caves on the banks of the Halys 115

The town of Kharkhar with its triple rampart 131

vii

viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Shabitoku, King of Egypt 137

Taharqa and his Queen Dikahitamanu ....... 139

The Column of Taharqa at Karnak 142

The Hemispeos of Hathor and Bisu, at Gebel-Barkal . 143

Entrance to the Hemispeos of Bisu (Bes) at Gebel-Barkal . . .144

Taharqa 145

Southern promontory at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb .... 156

Stele of Esarhaddon at the Nahr-el-Kelb 157

Stele of Zinjirli . . . . . . . . . . . .158

Assyrian Sphinx in Egyptian style supporting the base of a column . . 161
Assur-Bani-Pal as a bearer of offerings ....... 168

Shamash Shumukin as a bearer of offerings 169

Montumih9,it, Prince of Thebes . . 174

Psammetichus 175

Lydian Horsemen .181

Assur-Bani-Pal . 187

Mural decorations from the grottos . 190

King Tanuatamanu in adoration before the gods of Thebes . . .191
A lion issuing from its cage . . . . . . . . .198

Ituni breaks his bow with a blow of his sword, and gives himself up to the

executioner ............ 206

The Battle of Tulliz 207

Urtaku, cousin of Tiumman, surrendering to an Assyrian .... 209

The last arrow of Tiumman and his sou . . . . . . .210

Death of Tiumman and his son . . . . . . . . .211

Khumban-Igash acclaimed as king after the Battle of Tulliz . . .213

The head of Tiumman sent to Nineveh 215

Assur-Bani-Pal banqueting with hia queen ...... 216

Two Elamite chiefs flayed alive after the Battle of Tulliz .... 217

Psammetichus I. ........... 235

Battle of the Cimmerians against the Greeks accompanied by their dogs . 240
Moorish-Arab Facade .......... 243

Statues of the gods carried off by Assyrian soldiery ... .251

The Great Tumulus of Susa 253

Scythians lassoing horses 265

Nisaean horses harnessed to a royal chariot ...... 279

Scene in the mountains of Persia 283

Head of a Persian archer . 285

A Persian ............. 287

A herd of wild goats a bas-relief of the time of Assur-Bani-Pal . . 290
illustrated manuscripts on papyrus in hieroglyphics 291

LIST OF ILLUSTBATION.S ix

PAGE

Remains of Assur-Bani-Pal s wall at Nippur 294

Medic and Persian foot-soldiers 297

A Medic horseman 298

Part of the Fosse at Nineveh . 392

Scythians tending their wounded ........ 308

Iranian soldiers fighting against the Scythians . . . . .311

Three Hoplites in action 335

Statue of a Theban queen 333

The Saite fortress of Daphnse 347

Egyptian Greek 348

Chamber and Sarcophagus of an Apis 355

The great Gallery of the Serapeum 355

Memphite bas-relief of the Saite Epoch 359

The ruins of Sais 3 61

A view in the mountains of the Messogis 390

The site of Prigng 391

The ruins of Pteria 396

The entrance to the sanctuary of Pteria ..... 397

One of the processions in the ravine of Pteria . . . 398

An Egyptian vessel of the Saite period ... . 404
The ancient head of the Red Sea, now the northern extremity of the

Bitter Lakes t 495

The facade of the Great Temple of Abu-Simbel . . 417

Apries, from a Sphinx in the Louvre .... . 422

Stele of Nebuchadrezzar ..... 403

Prisoners under torture having their tongues torn out . . . 427

A King putting out the eyes of a prisoner . . . 428

A people carried away into captivity with their household goods and cattle 431

Bronze lion of Bohbait .... 435

The small obelisk in the Piazza Delia Minerva at Rome . . 437

The Oasis of Amon and the Spring of the Sun . . . 449

A portion of the ruins of Cyrene, the Necropolis ... 441

Weighing silphium in presence of King Arkesilas 444

City defended by a triple wall 455

Probable section of the triple wall of Babylon . . 457

Fragment of a Babylonian bas-relief . . . 453

Ruins of the Ziggurat of the temple of Bel . 459
The stone lion of Babylon ....

SENNACHERIB (705-6S1 B.C.).

THE STRUGGLE OP SENNACHERIB WITH JUD/EA AND EGYPT DESTRUCTION

01 BABYLON

TJtc upheaval of the entire Eastern world on the accession of Sennacherib
Revolt of Babylon : return of Merodach-baladan and his efforts to form a
coalition against Assyria ; the battle of Kish (703 B.C.) Belibni, King of
Babylon (702-699 B.C.) Sabaco, King of Egypt, Amenertas and Pionkhi,
Shabi-tokn Tyre and its kings after Ethbaal II. : Phoenician colonisation in
Libya and the foundation of Carthage The kingdom of Tyre in the time of
Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon : Ehdai Judah and the reforms of Hezekiah ;
alliance of Judah and Tyre with Egypt, the downfall of the Tyrian kingdom
(702 B.C.) The battle of Altaku and the siege of Jerusalem: Sennacherib en
camped before Lachish, his Egyptian expedition, the disaster at Pclusium.

Renewed revolt of Babylon and the Tabal (699 B.C.): flight of the people of
BU-Yakin into Elamite territory; Sennacherib s fleet and descent on Nagitu
(697-696 B.c.)Khalludush invades Karduniash (695 B.C.) ; Nirgal-ushezib and
Mushesib-marduk at Babylon (693-689 B.C.) Sennacherib invades Elam
(693 B.C.) : battle of Khalule (692 B.C.), siege and destruction of Babylon
(689 B.C.) Buildings of Sennacherib at Nineveh : his palace at Kouyunj ik ;
its decoration with battle, hunting, and building scenes.

VOL. VIII. B

CHAPTER I

SENNACHERIB (705-681 B.C.)

The struggle of Sennacherib with Judsea and Egypt Destruction

of Babylon.

CENNACHERIB either failed to inherit his father s good
fortune, or lacked his ability. 1 He was not deficient in
military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand
the various enemies who rose against him at widely
removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the
adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to
manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined
under his sway. He lacked the wisdom to conciliate the
vanquished, or opportunely to check his own repressive
measures ; he destroyed towns, massacred entire tribes, and
laid whole tracts of country waste, and by failing to
repeople these with captive exiles from, other nations, or to
import colonists in sufficient numbers, he found himself
towards the end of his reign ruling over a sparsely

1 The two principal documents for the reign of Sennacherib are engraved
on cylinders : the Taylor Cylinder and the Bellino Cylinder, duplicates of
which, more or less perfect, exist in the collections of the British Museum.
The Taylor Cylinder, found atKouyunjik or Nebi-Yunus, contains the history
of the first eight years of this reign ; the Bellino Cylinder treats of the two
first years of the reign.

4 SENNACHERIB

inhabited desert where his father had bequeathed to him
flourishing provinces and populous cities. His was the
system of the first Assyrian conquerors, Shalmaneser III.
and Assur-nazir-pal, substituted for that of Tiglath-pileser
III. and Sargon. The assimilation of the conquered
peoples to their conquerors was retarded, tribute was no
longer paid regularly, and the loss of revenue under this
head was not compensated by the uncertain increase in the
spoils obtained by war; the recruiting of the army,
rendered more difficult by the depopulation of revolted
districts, weighed heavier still on those which remained
faithful, and began, as in former times, to exhaust the
nation. The news of Sargon s murder, published through
out the Eastern world, had rekindled hope in the countries
recently subjugated by Assyria, as well as in those hostile
to her. Phoenicia, Egypt, Media, and Elarn roused them
selves from their lethargy and anxiously awaited the turn
which events should take at Nineveh and Babylon.
Sennacherib did not consider it to his interest to assume
the crown of Chaldasa, and to treat on a footing of absolute
equality a country which had been subdued by force of
arms : he relegated it to the rank of a vassal state, and
while reserving the suzerainty for himself, sent thither one
of his brothers to rule as king. 1 The Babylonians were

1 The events which took place at Babylon at the beginning of Senna
cherib s reign are known to us from the fragments of Berosus, compared with
the Canon of Ptolemy and Pinches Babylonian Canon. The first interregnum
in the Canon of Ptolemy (704-702 B.C.) is filled in Pinches Canon by three
kings who are said to have reigned as follows : Sennacherib, two years ;
Marduk-zakir-shumu, one month ; Merodach-baladan, nine months. Berosus
substitutes for Sennacherib one of his brothers, whose name apparently he

ACCESSION OF SENNACHERIB 5

indignant at this slight. Accustomed to see their foreign
ruler conform to their national customs, take the hands of
Bel, and assume or receive from them a new throne-name,
they could not resign themselves to descend to the level of
mere tributaries : in less than two years they rebelled,
assassinated the king who had been imposed upon them,
and proclaimed in his stead Marduk-zakir-shumu, 1 who was
merely the son of a female slave (704 B.C.). This was the
signal for a general insurrection in Chaldaea and the eastern
part of the empire. Merodach-baladan, who had remained
in hiding in the valleys on the Elamite frontier since his
defeat in 709 B.C., suddenly issued forth with his adherents,
and marched at once to Babylon ; the very news of his
approach caused a sedition, in the midst of which Marduk-
zakir-shumu perished, after having reigned for only one
month. Merodach-baladan re-entered his former capital,
and as soon as he was once more seated on the throne, he
endeavoured to form alliances with all the princes, both
small and great, who might create a diversion in his favour.
His envoys obtained promises of help from Elam ; other
emissaries hastened to Syria to solicit the alliance of
Hezekiah, and might have even proceeded to Egypt if their

did not know ; and this is the version I have adopted, in agreement with
most modern historians, as best tallying with the evident lack of affection
for Babylon displayed by Sennacherib throughout his reign.

1 The servile origin of this personage is indicated in Pinches Babylonian
Canon ; he might, however, be connected through his father with a princely,
or even a royal, family, and thereby be in a position to win popular support.
Among modern Assyriologists, some suppose that the name Akises in
Berosus is a corruption of [Marduk-]zakir[shumu] ; others consider Akises-
Akishu as being the personal name of the king, and Marduk-zakir-shumu his
throne-name.

6 SENNACHERIB

sovereign s good fortune had lasted long enough. 1 But
Sennacherib did not waste his opportunities in lengthy
preparations. The magnificent army left by Sargon was at
his disposal, and summoning it at once into the field, he
advanced on the town of Kish, where the Kalda monarch
was entrenched with his Arama3an forces and the Elarnite
auxiliaries furnished by Shutruk-nakhunta. The battle
issued in the complete rout of the confederate forces.
Merodach-baladan fled almost unattended, first to Guzurn-
manu, and then to the marshes of the Tigris, where he
found a temporary refuge ; the troops who were despatched
in pursuit followed him for five days, and then, having
failed to secure the fugitive, gave up the search. 2 His
camp fell into the possession of the victor, with all its
contents chariots, horses, mules, camels, and herds of
cattle belonging to the commissariat department of the
army : Babylon threw open its gates without resistance,
hoping, no doubt, that Sennacherib would at length resolve
to imitate the precedent set by his father and retain the
royal dignity for himself. He did, indeed, consent to
remit the punishment for this first insurrection, and
contented himself with pillaging the royal treasury and
palace, but he did not deign to assume the crown,
conferring it on Belibni, a Babylonian of noble birth, who
had been taken, when quite a child, to Nineveh and

1 2 Kings xx. 12-19 ; Isa. xxxix. The embassy to Hezekiah has been
assigned to the first reign of Merodach-baladan, under Sargon. In accordance
with the information obtained from the Assyrian monuments, it seems to me
that it could only have taken place during his second reign, in 703 B.C.

2 The detail is furnished by the Bcllino Cylinder. Berosus affirmed that
Merodach-baladan was put to death by Belibni,

DEFIANCE OF THE KHIRIMMU 7

educated there under the eyes of Sargon. 1 While he was
thus reorganising the government, his generals were bring
ing the campaign to a close : they sacked, one after
another, eighty-nine strongholds and eight hundred and
twenty villages of the Kalda ; they drove out the Arabian
and Aramaean garrisons which Merodach-baladan had
placed in the cities of Karduniash, in Urak, Nipur, Kuta,
and Kharshag-kalamma, and they re-established Assyrian
supremacy over all the tribes on the east of the Tigris up
to the frontiers of Elam, the Tumuna, the Ubudu, the
Gambulu, and the Khindaru, as also over the Nabataeans
and Hagarenes, who wandered over the deserts of Arabia to
the west of the mouths of the Euphrates. The booty was
enormous : 208,000 prisoners, both male and female, 7200
horses, 11,073 asses, 5230 camels, 80,100 oxen, 800,500
sheep, made their way like a gigantic horde of emigrants to
Assyria under the escort of the victorious army. Mean
while the Khirimmu remained defiant, and showed not the
slightest intention to submit : their strongholds had to be
attacked and the inhabitants annihilated before order could
in any way be restored in the country. The second reign
of Merodach-baladan had lasted barely nine months.

The blow which ruined Merodach-baladan broke up
the coalition which he had tried to form against Assyria.
Babylon was the only rallying-point where states so remote,
and such entire strangers to each other as Judah and
Elam, could enter into friendly relations and arrange a
plan of combined action. Having lost Babylon as a centre,

1 The name is transcribed Belibos in Greek, and it seems as if the
Assyrian, variants justify the pronunciation Belibush,

8 SENNACHERIB

they were once more hopelessly isolated, and had no
means of concerting measures against the common foe :
they renounced all offensive action, and waited under
arms to see how the conqueror would deal with each
severally. The most threatening storm, however, was
not that which was gathering over Palestine, even were
Egypt to he drawn into open war : for a revolt of the
western provinces, however serious, was never likely to
lead to disastrous complications, and the distance from
Pelusium to the Tigris was too great for a victory of the
Pharaoh to compromise effectually the safety of the
empire. On the other hand, should intervention on
the part of Elam in the affairs of Babylon or Media be
crowned with success, the most disastrous consequences
might ensue : it would mean the loss of Karduniash, or
of the frontier districts won with such difficulty by
Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon ; it would entail permanent
hostilities on the Tigris and the Zab, and perhaps the
appearance of barbarian troops under the walls of Calah
or of Nineveh. Elam had assisted Merodach-baladan, and
its soldiers had fought on the plains of Kish. Months
had elapsed since that battle, yet Shutruk-nakhunta showed
no disposition to take the initiative : he accepted his
defeat at all events for the time, but though he put off
the day of reckoning till a more favourable opportunity,
it argued neither weakness nor discouragement, and he
was ready to give a fierce reception to any Assyrian
monarch who should venture within his domain. Sen
nacherib, knowing both the character and resources of
the Elarnite king, did not attempt to meet him in the

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE COSS^ANS AND THE MEDES

open field, but wreaked his resentment on the frontier
tribes who had rebelled at the instigation of the Elamites,
on the Cossaeans, on Ellipi and its king Ishpabara. He
pursued the inhabitants into the narrow valleys and forests
of the Khoatras, where his chariots were unable to follow :
proceeding with his troops, sometimes on horseback, at
other times on foot, he reduced Bit-kilamzak, Khardishpi,
and Bit-kubatti to ashes, and annexed the territories of
the Cossseans and the Yasubigalla to the prefecture of
Arrapkha. Thence he entered Ellipi, where Ishpabara
did not venture to come to close quarters with him in
the open field, but led him on from town to town. He
destroyed the two royal seats of Marubishti and Akkuddu,
and thirty-four of their dependent strongholds ; he took
possession of Zizirtu, Kummalu, the district of Bitbarru,
and the city of Elinzash, to which he gave the name
Kar-Sennacherib, the fortress of Sennacherib, and
annexed them to the government of Kharkhar. The
distant Medes, disquieted at his advance, sent him
presents, and renewed the assurances of devotion they had
given to Sargon, but Sennacherib did not push forward into
their territory as his predecessors had done : he was content
to have maintained his authority as far as his outlying posts,
and to have strengthened the Assyrian empire by acquiring
some well-situated positions near the main routes which
led from the Iranian table-land to the plains of Meso
potamia. Having accomplished this, he at once turned
his attention towards the west, where the spirit of rebellion
was still active in the countries bordering on the African
frontier. Sabaco, now undisputed master of Egypt, was

10 SEXNACHERIB

not content, like Pioukhi, to bring Egypt proper into a
position of dependence, and govern it at a distance, by
means of his generals. He took up his residence within
it, at least during part of every year, and played the role
of Pharaoh so well that his Egyptian subjects, both at
Thebes and in the Delta, were obliged to acknowledge
his sovereignty and recognise him as the founder of a new
dynasty. He kept a close watch over the vassal princes,
placing garrisons in Memphis and the other principal
citadels, and throughout the country he took in hand
public works which had been almost completely interrupted
for more than a century owing to the civil wars : the
highways were repaired, the canals cleaned out and
enlarged, and the foundations of the towns raised above
the level of the inundation. Bubastis especially profited
under his rule, and regained the ascendency it had lost
ever since the accession of the second Tanite dynasty;
but this partiality was not to the detriment of other cities.
Several of the temples at Memphis were restored, and
the inscriptions effaced by time were re-engraved. Thebes,
happy under the government of Amenertas and her husband
Pionkhi, profited largely by the liberality of its Ethiopian
rulers. At Luxor Sabaco restored the decoration of the
principal gateway between the two pylons, and repaired
several portions of the temple of Amon at Karnak. History
subsequently related that, in order to obtain sufficient
workmen, he substituted forced labour for the penalty of
death : a policy which, beside being profitable, would
win for him a reputation for clemency. Egypt, at length
reduced to peace and order, began once more to flourish,

SAB AGO AND SHABITOKU OF EGYPT 11

and to display that inherent vitality of which she had
so often given proof, and her reviving prosperity attracted
as of old the attention of foreign powers. At the
beginning of his reign, Sabaco had attempted to
meddle in the intrigues of Syria, but the ease with
which Sargon had quelled the revolt of Ashdod had
inspired the Egyptian monarch with salutary distrust
in his own power ; he had sent presents to the conqueror
and received gifts in exchange,
which furnished him with a
pretext for enrolling the
Asiatic peoples among the
tributary nations whose names
he inscribed on his triumphal
lists. 1 Since then he had had

Some diplomatic correspond- CLAY SEAL WITH CARTOUCHE OF

.., , . - SABACO. 2

ence with his powerful -neigh
bour, and a document bearing his name was laid up in
the archives at Calah, where the clay seal once attached
to it has been discovered. Peace had lasted for a dozen
years, when he died about 703 B.C., and his son Shabitoku
ascended the throne. 3 The temporary embarrassments in
which the Babylonian revolution had plunged Sennacherib

It was probably with reference to this exchange of presents that Sabaco
caused the bas-relief at Karnak to be engraved, in which he represents him
self as victorious over both Asiatics and Africans.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Layard.

3 One version of Manetho assigns twelve years to the reign of Sabaco,
and this duration is confirmed by an inscription in Hammamat, dated in his
twelfth year. Sabaco having succeeded to the throne in 716-715 B.C., his
reign brings us down to 704 or 703 B.C., which obliges us to place the
accession of Shabi-toku in the year following the death of Sargon.

12 SENNACHERIB

must have offered a tempting opportunity for interference
to this inexperienced king.

Tyre and Judah alone of all the Syrian states retained
a sufficiently independent spirit to cherish any hope of
deliverance from the foreign yoke. Tyre still maintained
her supremacy over Southern Phoenicia, and her rulers
were also kings of Sidon. 1 The long reign of Eth-baal and
his alliance with the kings of Israel had gradually repaired
the losses occasioned by civil discord, and had restored
Tyre to the high degree of prosperity which it had enjoyed
under Hiram. Few actual facts are known which can
enlighten us as to the activity which prevailed under Eth-
baal : we know, however, that he rebuilt the small town
of Botrys, which had been destroyed in the course of some
civil war, and that he founded the city of Auza in Libyan
territory, at the foot of the mountains of Aures, in one of
the richest mineral districts of modern Algeria. 2 In 876
B.C. Assur-nazir-pal had crossed the Lebanon and skirted
the shores of the Mediterranean : Eth-baal, naturally com
pliant, had loaded him with gifts, and by this opportune
submission had preserved his cities and country from the

1 Eth-baal II., who, according to the testimony of the native historians,
belonged to the royal family of Tyre, is called King of the Sidonians in the
Bible (1 Kings xvi. 31), and the Assyrian texts similarly call Elulai King of
the Sidonians, while Menander mentions him as King of Tyre. It
is probable that the King of Sidon, mentioned in the Annals of Shal-
maneser III. side by side with the King of Tyre, was a vassal of the Tyrian
monarch.

2 The two facts are preserved in a passage of Menander. I admit the
identity of the Auza mentioned in this fragment with the Auzea of Tacitus,
and with the Colonia Septimia Aur. Auziensium of the Roman inscriptions the
present Aumale.

KINGS OP TYRE FROM ETH-BAAL I. TO MUTTON II. 13

horrors of invasion. 1 Twenty years later Shalmaneser III.
had returned to Syria, and had come into conflict with
Damascus. The northern Phoenicians formed a league
with Ben-hadad (Adadidri) to withstand him, and drew
upon themselves the penalty of their rashness ; the Tyrians,
faithful to their usual policy, preferred to submit voluntarily
and purchase peace. Their conduct showed the greater
wisdom in that, after the death of Eth-baal, internal
troubles again broke out with renewed fierceness and with
even more disastrous results. His immediate successor
was Balezor (854-846 B.C.), followed by Mutton I. (845-821
B.C.), who flung himself at the feet of Shalmaneser III., in
842 B.C., in the camp atBaalirasi, and renewed his homage
three years later, in 839 B.C. The legends concerning the
foundation of Carthage blend with our slight knowledge
of his history. They attribute to Mutton I. a daughter
named Elissa, who was married to her uncle Sicharbal,
high priest of Melkarth, and a young son named Pygmalion
(820-774 B.C.). Sicharbal had been nominated by Mutton
as regent during the minority of Pygmalion, but he was
overthrown by the people, and some years later murdered
by his ward. From that time forward Elissa s one aim
was to avenge the murder of her husband. She formed a
conspiracy which was joined by all the nobles, but being
betrayed and threatened with death, she seized a fleet
which lay ready to sail in the harbour, and embarking with
all her adherents set sail for Africa, landing in the district

1 The King of Tyre who sent gifts to Assur-nazir-pal is not named in the
Assyrian documents : our knowledge of Tyrian chronology permits us with
all probability to identify him with Eth-baal.

14 SENNACHERIB

of Zeugitane, where the Sidoniaiis had already built Kambe.
There she purchased a tract of land from larbas, chief of
the Liby-phoenicians, and built on the ruins of the ancient
factory a new town, Qart-hadshat, which the Greeks
called Carchedo and the Romans Carthage. The genius
of Virgil has rendered the name of Dido illustrious : but
history fails to recognise in the narratives which form the
basis of his tale anything beyond a legendary account
fabricated after the actual origin (814-813 B.C.) of the great
Punic city had been forgotten. Thus weakened, Tyre
could less than ever think of opposing the ambitious designs
of Assyria : Pygmalion took no part in the rebellions of
the petty Syrian kings against Samsi-ramman, and in 803
B.C. he received his suzerain Ramman-nirari with the
accustomed gifts, when that king passed through Phoenicia
before attacking Damascus. Pygmalion died about 774
B.C., and the names of his immediate successors are not
known ; l it may be supposed, however, that when the
power of Nineveh temporarily declined, the ties which
held Tyre to Assyria became naturally relaxed, and the
city released herself from the burden of a tribute which
had in the past been very irregularly paid. The yoke was
reassumed half a century later, at the mere echo of the

1 The fragment of Menander \vhich has preserved for us the list of Tyrian
kings from Abi-baal to Pygmalion, was only quoted by Josephus, because,
the seventh year of Pygmalion s reign corresponding to the date of the
foundation of Carthage, 814-813 B.C. according to the chronological system
of Timteus, the Hebrew historian found in it a fixed date which seemed to
permit of his establishing the chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah on
a trustworthy basis between the reign of Pygmalion and Hiram I,, the con
temporary of David and Solomon.

KINGS OF TYRE FROM ETH-BAAL I. TO MUTTON II. 15

first victories of Tiglath-pileser III. ; and Hiram II., who
then reigned in Tyre, hastened to carry to the carnp at
Arpad assurances of his fidelity (742 B.C.). He gave pledges
of his allegiance once more in 738 B.C. ; then he disappears,
and Mutton II. takes his place about 736 B.C. This king
cast off, unhappily for himself, his hereditary apathy, and
as soon as a pretext offered itself, abandoned the policy of
neutrality to which his ancestors had adhered so firmly.
He entered into an alliance in 734 B.C. with Damascus,
Israel and Philistia, secretly supported and probably
instigated by Egypt; then, when Israel was conquered
and Damascus overthrown, he delayed repairing his error
till an Assyrian army appeared before Tyre : he had then
to pay the price of his temerity by 120 talents of gold and
many loads of merchandise (728 B.C.). The punishment
was light and the loss inconsiderable in comparison with
the accumulated wealth of the city, which its maritime
trade was daily increasing : * Mutton thought the episode
was closed, 1 but the peaceful policy of his house, having
been twice interrupted, could not be resumed. Southern
Phoenicia, having once launched on the stream of Asiatic
politics, followed its fluctuations, and was compelled
henceforth to employ in her own defence the forces
which had hitherto been utilised in promoting her colonial
enterprises.

But it was not due to the foolish caprice of ignorant

[For a description of the trade carried on by Tyre, cf. Ezek. xxvi.,
xxvii., and xxviii. TR.]

Pygmalion having died about 774 B.C., and Hiram II. not appearing
till 742 B.C., it is probable that we should intercalate between these two
kings at least one sovereign whose name is still unknown.

16 SENNACHERIB

or rash sovereigns that Tyre renounced her former neutral
policy : she was constrained to do so, almost perforce,
by the changes which had taken place in Europe. The
progress of the Greeks, and their triumph in the waters
of the ^Egean and Ionian Seas, and the rapid expansion of
the Etruscan navy after the end of the ninth century,
had gradually restricted the Phoenician merchantmen to
the coasts of the Western Mediterranean and the Atlantic :
they industriously exploited the mineral wealth of Africa
and Spain, and traffic with the barbarous tribes of
Morocco and Lusitania, as well as the discovery and
working of the British tin mines, had largely compensated
for the losses occasioned by the closing of the Greek and
Italian markets. Their ships, obliged now to coast along
the inhospitable cliffs of Northern Africa and to face the
open sea, were more strongly and scientifically built than
any vessels hitherto constructed. The Egyptian undecked
galleys, with stem and stern curving inwards, were dis
carded as a build ill adapted to resist the attacks of
wind or wave. The new Phoenician galley had a long,
low, narrow, well-balanced hull, the stern raised and
curving inwards above the steersman, as heretofore, but
the bows pointed and furnished with a sharp ram pro
jecting from the keel, equally serviceable to cleave the
waves or to stave in the side of an enemy s ship.
Motive power was supplied by two banks of oars, the
upper ones resting in rowlocks on the gunwale, the lower
ones in rowlocks pierced in the timbers of the vessel s side.
An upper deck, supported by stout posts, ran from stem to
stern, above the heads of the rowers, and was reserved

THE NEW PHOENICIAN GALLEY if

for the soldiers and the rest of the crew : on a light
railing surroundiug it were hung the circular shields of
the former, forming as it were a rampart on either side.
The mast, passing through both decks, was firmly fixed
in the keel, and was supported by two stays made fast
to stem and stern. The rectangular sail was attached to

A PIICENICIAN GALLEY WITH TWO BANKS OF OARS. 1

a yard which could be hoisted or lowered at will. The
wealth which accrued to the Tyrians from their naval
expeditions had rendered the superiority of Tyre over the
neighbouring cities so manifest that they had nearly all
become her vassals. Arvad and Northern Phoenicia were
still independent, as also the sacred city of Bylos, but
the entire coast from the Nahr-el-Kelb to the headland
formed by Mount Carmel was directly subject to Tyre, 2

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. Sennacherib affirms that
vessels of this type had been constructed by Syrian shipwrights, and were
manned by Tyrian, Sidonian, and Ionian sailors.

2 The kings of Arvad and Byblos are still found mentioned at the
beginning of Sennacherib s reign.

VOL. VIII. C

18

SENNACHERIB

comprising the two Sidons, Bit-ziti, and Sarepta, the
country from Mahalliba to the fords of the Litany, Ushu
and its hinterland as far as Kana, Akzib, Akko, and
Dora; and this compact territory, partly protected by
the range of Lebanon, and secured by the habitual pru
dence of its rulers from the
invasions which had deso
lated Syria, formed the
most flourishing, and per
haps also the most popu
lous, kingdom which still
existed between the Eu
phrates and the Egyptian
desert. 1 Besides these,
some parts of Cyprus were
dependent on Tyre, though
the Ach^an colonies, con
tinually reinforced by fresh
immigrants, had absorbed
most of the native popula
tion and driven the rest into
the mountains. A hybrid
civilisation had developed among these early Greek settlers,
amalgamating the customs, religions, and arts of the
ancient eastern world of Egypt, Syria, and Chaldsea in

1 The extent of the kingdom of Tyre is indicated by the passage in which
Sennacherib enumerated the cities which he had taken from Elulai. To
these must be added Dor, to the south of Carmel, which was always regarded
as belonging to the Tyrians, and whose isolated position between the head
land, the sea, and the forest might cause the Assyrians to leave it un
molested.

i 7^-1

Dillon theT&redi

**
KINGDOM OF TYRE

at the time
of the campaign
or SENNACHERIB.

THE KINGDOM OF TYRE 19

variable proportions : their script was probably derived from
one of the Asianic systems whose monuments are still but
partly known, and it consisted of a syllabary awkwardly
adapted to a language for which it had not been designed.
A dozen petty kings, of whom the majority were Greeks,
disputed possession of the northern and eastern parts of
the island, at Idalion, Khytros, Paphos, Soli, Kourion,
Tamassos, and Ledron. The Phoenicians had given way
at first before the invaders, and had grouped themselves
in the eastern plain round Kition; they had, however,
subsequently assumed the offensive, and endeavoured to
regain the territory they had lost. Kition, which had
been destroyed in one of their wars, had been rebuilt,
and thus obtained the name of Qart-hadshat, " the new
city." Mutton s successor, Elulai, continued, as we
know, the work of defence and conquest: perhaps it
was with a view to checking his advance that seven
kings of Cyprus sent an embassy, in 709 B.C., to his
suzerain, Sargon, and placed themselves under the pro
tection of Assyria. If this was actually the case, and
Elulai was compelled to suspend hostilities against these
hereditary foes, one can understand that this grievance,
added to the reasons for uneasiness inspired by the

The name of this city, at first read as Amtikhadashti, and identified
with Ammokhostos or with Ama,thoMS,Amti-KhadasJiti would in this case
be equivalent to New Amathous,is really Karti-Khadashti, as is proved by
the variant reading discovered by Schrader, and this is identical with the
native name of Carthage in Africa. This new city must have been of some
antiquity by the time of Elulai, for it is mentioned on a fragment of a bronze
vase found in Cyprus itself : this fragment belonged to a King Hiram, who
according to some authorities would be Hiram II., according to others,
Hiram I.

20 SENNACHERIB

situation of his continental dominions, may have given
him the desire to rid himself of the yoke of Assyria,
and contributed to his resolution to ally himself with
the powers which were taking up arms against her. The
constant intercourse of his subjects with the Delta, and
his natural anxiety to avoid anything which might close
one of the richest markets of the world to the Tyrian
trade, inclined him to receive favourably the overtures
of the Pharaoh : the emissaries of Shabitoku found him
as much disposed as Hezekiah himself to begin the
struggle. The latter monarch, who had ascended the
throne while still very young, had at first shown no
ambition beyond the carrying out of religious reforms.
His father Ahaz had been far from orthodox, in spite of
the influence exerted over him by Isaiah. During his
visit to Tiglath-pileser at Damascus (729 B.C.) he had
noticed an altar whose design pleased him. He sent a
description of it to the high priest Urijah, with orders
to have a similar one constructed, and erected in the
court of the temple at Jerusalem : this altar he appro
priated to his personal use, and caused the priests to
minister at it, instead of at the old altar, which he
relegated to an inferior position. He also effected
changes in the temple furniture, which doubtless appeared
to him old-fashioned in comparison with the splendours
of the Assyrian worship which he had witnessed, and
he made some alterations in the approaches to the
temple, wishing, as far as we can judge, that the King
of Judah should henceforth, like his brother of Nineveh,
have a private means of access to his national god.

JUDAH AND THE REFORMS OF HEZEKIAH 21

This was but the least of his offences : for had he not
offered his own son as a holocaust at the moment ho
felt himself most menaced by the league of Israel and
Damascus? Among the people themselves there were
many faint-hearted and faithless, who, doubting the power
of the God of their forefathers, turned aside to the gods
of the neighbouring nations, and besought from them
the succour they despaired of receiving from any other
source ; the worship of Jahveh was confounded with that
of Moloch in the valley of the children of Hinnom,
where there was a sanctuary or Tophet, at which the
people celebrated the most horrible rites : a large and
fierce pyre was kept continually burning there, to consume
the children whose fathers brought them to offer in
sacrifice. 1 Isaiah complains bitterly of these unbelievers
who profaned the land with their idols, " worshipping the
work of their own hands, that which their own fingers
had made." 2 The new king, obedient to the divine
command, renounced the errors of his father ; he removed
the fetishes with which the superstition of his predecessors
had cumbered the temple, and which they had connec
ted with the worship of Jahveh, and in his zeal even
destroyed the ancient brazen serpent, the Nehushtan,
the origin of which was attributed to Moses. 3 On the
occasion of the revolt of Yamani, Isaiah counselled

1 Isa. xxx. 33, where the prophet describes the Tophet Jahveh s anger is
preparing for Assyria.

2 Isa. ii. 8.

3 2 Kings xviii. 4. I leave the account of this religious reformation in
the place assigned to it in the Bible ; other historians relegate it to a time
subsequent to the invasion of Sennacherib.

22 SENNACHERIB

Hezekiah to remain neutral, and this prudence enabled
him to look on in security at the ruin of the Philistines,
the hereditary foes of his race. Under his wise adminis
tration the kingdom of Judah, secured against annoyance
from envious neighbours by the protection which Assur
freely afforded to its obedient vassals, and revived by
thirty years of peace, rose rapidly from the rank of
secondary importance which it had formerly been content
to occupy. " Their land was fall of silver and gold,
neither was there any end of their treasures ; their land
also was full of horses, neither was there any end of their
chariots." l Now that the kingdom of Israel had been
reduced to the condition of an Assyrian province, it was
on Judah and its capital that the hopes of the whole
Hebrew nation were centred.

Tyre and Jerusalem had hitherto formed the extreme
outwork of the Syrian states ; they were the only remain
ing barrier which separated the empires of Egypt and
Assyria, and it was to the interest of the Pharaoh to
purchase their alliance and increase their strength by
every means in his power. Negotiations must have been
going on for some time between the three powers, but
up to the time of the death of S argon and the return of
Merodach-baladan to Babylon their results had been un
important, and it was possible that the disasters which
had befallen the Kalda would tend to cool the ardour
of the allies. An unforeseen circumstance opportunely

1 Isa. ii. 7, where the description applies better to the later years of
Ahaz or the reign of Hezekiah than to the years preceding the war against
Pekah and Rezin.

ALLIANCE OF JUDAH AND TYRE WITH EGYPT 23

rekindled their zeal, and determined them to try their
fortune. The inhabitants of Ekron, dissatisfied with Padl,
the chief whom the Assyrians had set over them, seized
his person and sent him in chains to Hezekiah. 1 To accept
the present was equivalent to open rebellion, and a declara
tion of war against the power of the suzerain. Isaiah, as

usual, wished Judah to rely on Jahveh alone, and preached
against alliance with the Babylonians, for he foresaw that
success would merely result in substituting the Kalda for
the Ninevite monarch, and in aggravating the condition
of Judah. " All that is in thine house," he said to
Hezekiah, "and that which thy fathers have laid up in
store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon ; nothing

1 The name of the city, written Amgarruna, is really Akkaron-Ekron.

24 SENNACHERIB

shall be left, saitli the Lord. And of thy sons that shall
issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take
away ; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the
King of Babylon." Hezekiah did not pay much heed
to the prediction, for, he reflected, " peace and truth
shall be in my days," and the future troubled him little. 1
When the overthrow of Merodach-baladan had taken place,
the prophet still more earnestly urged the people not to
incur the vengeance of Assyria without other help than
that of Tyre or Ethiopia, and Eliakim, son of Hilkiah,
spoke in the same strain ; but Shebna, the prefect of the
palace, declaimed against this advice, and the latter s
counsel prevailed with his master. 2 Hezekiah agreed to
accept the sovereignty over Ekron which its inhabitants
offered to him, but a remnant of prudence kept him from
putting Padi to death, and he contented himself with
casting him into prison. Isaiah, though temporarily out
of favour with the king, ceased not to proclaim aloud in
all quarters the will of the Almighty. " Woe to the
rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but
not of Me ; and that cover with a covering (form alliances),
but not of My spirit, that they may add sin to sin : that
walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My
mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of
Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt ! Therefore
shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the
trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. When your

1 2 Kings xx. 16-19.

2 This follows from the terms in which the prophet compares the two
men (Isa. xxii. 15-25).

THE WARNINGS OF ISAIAH 25

princes shall be at Tanis, and your messengers shall come
to Heracleopolis,* you shall all be ashamed of a people
that cannot profit you. . . . For Egypt helpeth in vain,
and to no purpose : therefore have I called her Rahab
that sitteth still." l He returned, unwearied and with
varying imagery, to his theme, contrasting the uncertainty
and frailty of the expedients of worldly wisdom urged
by the military party, with the steadfast will of
Jahveh and the irresistible authority with which He in
vests His faithful servants. " The Egyptians are men,
and not God ; and their horses flesh, and not spirit ; and
when the Lord shall stretch out His hand, both he that
helpeth shall stumble, and he that is holpen shall fall,
and they shall all fail together. For thus saith the
Lord unto me, Like as when the lion growleth, and the
young lion over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds be
called forth against him, he will not be dismayed at their
voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them : so shall
the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon Mount Zion,
and upon the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the
Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem : He will protect and
deliver it. Turn ye unto Him from whom ye have deeply
revolted, children of Israel." No one, however, gave
heed to his warnings, either king or people ; but the
example of Phoenicia soon proved that he was right.
When Sennacherib bestirred himself, in the spring of

* [Heb. Hanes. TK.]

1 Isa. xxx. 15, 7. In verses 4, 5, the original text employs the third
person ; I have restored the second person, to avoid confusion.

2 Isa. xxxi. 3-G.

26 SENNACHERIB

702 B.C., either the Ethiopians were not ready, or they
dared not advance to encounter him in Ccele- Syria, and
they left Elulai to get out of his difficulties as best he
might. He had no army to risk in a pitched "battle ; but
fondly imagined that his cities, long since fortified, and
protected on the east by the range of Lebanon, would
offer a resistance sufficiently stubborn to wear out the
patience of his assailant. The Assyrians, however, dis
concerted his plans. Instead of advancing against him
by the pass of Nahr-el-Kebir, according to their usual
custom, they attacked him in flank, descending into the
very midst of his positions by the col of Legnia or one
of the neighbouring passes. 1 They captured in succession
the two Sidons, Bit-ziti, Sarepta, Mahalliba, Ushu, Akzib,
and Acco : Elulai, reduced to the possession of the island
of Tyre alone, retreated to one of his colonies in Cyprus,
where he died some years later, without having set foot
again on the continent. All his former possessions on the
mainland were given to a certain Eth-baal, who chose
Sidon for his seat of government, and Tyre lost by this
one skirmish the rank of metropolis which she had enjoyed
for centuries. 2

This summary punishment decided all the Syrian
princes who were not compromised beyond hope of pardon
to humble themselves before the suzerain. Menahem of
Samsi-muruna, 3 Abdiliti of Arvad, Uru-malik of Byblos,

1 This follows from the very order in which the cities were taken in the
course of this campaign.

2 The Assyrian text gives for the name of the King of Sidon .1 shortened
form Tu-baal instead of Eth-baal, paralleled by Lulia for Elulai.

3 Several of the early Assyriologists read Usi-muruna, and identified the,

THE RUIX OP THE TYRIAX KINGDOM 27

Puduilu of Ammon, Chemosh-nadab of Moab, Malik-
rammu of Edom, Mitinti of Ashdod, all brought their
tribute in person to the Assyrian camp before Ushu :
Zedekiah of Ashkelon and Hezekiah of Judah alone
persisted in their hostility. Egypt had at length been
moved by the misfortunes of her allies, and the Ethiopian
troops had advanced to the seat of war, but they did
not arrive in time to save Zedekiah : Sennacherib razed
to the ground all his strongholds one after another, Beth-
dagon, Joppa, Bene-berak, and Hazor, 1 took him prisoner
at Ascalon, and sent him with his family to Assyria,
setting up Sharludari, son of Rukibti, in his stead. Sen
nacherib then turned against Ekron, and was about to
begin the siege of the city, when the long-expected
Egyptians at length made their appearance. Shabitoku
did not command them in person, but he had sent his
best troops the contingents furnished by the petty kings
of the Delta, and the sheikhs of the Sinaitic peninsula,
who were vassals of Egypt. The encounter took place
near Altaku, 2 and on this occasion again, as at Eaphia,

city bearing this name with Samaria. The discovery of the reading Samsi-
muruna on a fragment of the time of Assur-bani-pal no longer permits of this
identification, and obliges us to look for the city in Phoenicia.

1 These are the cities attributed to the tribes of Dan and Judah in Josli.
xv. 25, 41 ; xix. 45. Beth-dagon is now Bet-Dejan ; Azuru is Yazur, to the
south-east of Joppa ; Beni-barak is Ibn-Abrak, to the north-east of the same
town.

1 Altaku is certainly Eltekeh of Dan (Josh. xix. 44), as was seen from
the outset ; the site, however, of Eltekeh cannot be fixed with any certainty.
It has been located at Bet-Lukkieh, in the mountainous country north-west
of Jerusalem, but this position in no way corresponds to the requirements of
the Assyrian text, according to which the battle took place on a plain large
enough for the evolutions of the Egyptian chariots, and situated between the

28

SENNACHERIB

the scientific tactics of the Assyrians prevailed over the
stereotyped organisation of Pharaoh s army : the Ethiopian
generals left some of their chariots in the hands of the

conqueror, and re
treated with the rem
nants of their force
beyond the Isthmus.
Altaku capitulated,
an example fol
lowed by the neigh
bouring fortress of
Timnath, and sub
sequently by Ekron
itself, all three being
made to feel Sen
nacherib s venge
ance. " The nobles
and chiefs who had
offended, I slew,"
he remarks, " and
set up their corpses
on stakes in a circle
round the city ;
those of the inhabi
tants who had offended and committed crimes, I took
them prisoners, and for the rest who had neither offended

group of towns formed by Beth-dagon, Joppa, Beni-barak, and Hazor, which
Sennacherib had just captured, and the cities of Ekron, Timnath, and
Eltekeh, which he took directly after his victory : a suitable locality must
be looked for in the vicinity of Ramleh or Zernuka.

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph given in Lortet.

THE PASS OF LEGNIA, IX LEBANON. 1

Guard at the Water -Mill

HEZEKIAH PREPARES FOR A SIEGE 29

nor transgressed, I pardoned them." We may here pause
to inquire how Hezekiah was occupied while his fate
was being decided on the field of Altaku. He was
fortifying Jerusalem, and storing within it munitions of
war, and enrolling Jewish soldiers and mercenary troops
from the Arab tribes of the desert. He had suddenly
become aware that large portions of the wall of the city
of David had crumbled away, and he set about demolishing
the neighbouring houses to obtain materials for repairing
these breaches : he hastily strengthened the weak points
in his fortifications, stopped up the springs which flowed
into the Gihon, and cut off the brook itself, constructing a
reservoir between the inner and outer city walls to store
up the waters of the ancient pool. These alterations 1
rendered the city, which from its natural position was
well defended, so impregnable that Sennacherib decided
not to attack it until the rest of the kingdom had been
subjugated : with this object in view he pitched his camp
before Lachish, whence he could keep a watch over the
main routes from Egypt where they crossed the frontier,
and then scattered his forces over the land of Judah,
delivering it up to pillage in a systematic manner. He
took forty-six walled towns, and numberless strongholds
and villages, demolishing the walls and leading into
captivity 200,150 persons of all ages and conditions,
together with their household goods, their horses, asses,
mules, camels, oxen, and sheep ; 2 it was a war as

1 Isa. xxii. 8-11.

: An allusion to the sojourn of Sennacherib near Lachish is found in
2 Kings xviii. 14-17 ; xix. 8, and in Isa. xxxvi. 2 ; xxxvii. 8

30 SENNACHERIB

disastrous in its effects as that which terminated in the
fall of Samaria, or which led to the final captivity in
Babylon. 1 The work of destruction accomplished, the
Kab shaken brought up all his forces and threw up a
complete circle of earthworks round Jerusalem : Hezekiah
found himself shut up in his capital "like a bird in a
cage." The inhabitants soon became accustomed to this
isolated life, but Isaiah was indignant at seeing them
indifferent to their calamities, and inveighed against them
with angry eloquence: "What aileth thee now, that thou
art wholly gone up to the housetops ? thou that art
full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; thy
slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead
in battle. All thy rulers fled away together, they are
made prisoners without drawing the bow; they are come
hither from afar for safety, and all that meet together
here shall be taken together."* The danger was urgent;
the Assyrians were massed in their entrenchments with
their auxiliaries ranged behind them to support them:
"Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen,
and Kir uncovered the shield (for the assault). And it
came to pass that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots,
and the horsemen set themselves in array at thy gate,
and he took away the covering of Judah." In those days,
therefore, Jahveh, without pity for His people, called
them to "weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness,

1 It seems that the Jewish historian Demetrios considered the captivities
under Nebuchadrezzar and Sennacherib to be on the same footing.

* [The R.V. gives this passage as follows : " They were bound by the
archers : all that were found of thee were bound together, they fled afar
off." TH.]

-

ifti S

5" li "V.i**

3-m^-mim^ m

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM 33

and to girding with sackcloth : and behold, joy and
gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh
and drinking wine : let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
we shall die. And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself
in mine ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged
from you till ye die, saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts." 1
The prophet threw the blame on the courtiers especially
Shebna, who still hoped for succour from the Egyptians,
and kept up the king s illusions on this point. He
threatened him with the divine anger; he depicted him
as seized by Jahveh, rolled and kneaded into a lump,
" and tossed like a ball into a large country : there shalt
thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory,
thou shame of thy lord s house. And I will thrust thee
from thy office, and from thy station he shall pull tbee
down ! Meanwhile, day after day elapsed, and Pharaoh
did not hasten to the rescue. Hezekiah s eyes were
opened; he dismissed Shebna, and degraded him to the
position of scribe, and set Eliakim in his place in the
Council of State. 3 Isaiah s influence revived, and he per
suaded the king to sue for peace while yet there was time.

Sennacherib was encamped at Lachish ; but the Tartan
and his two lieutenants received the overtures of peace,
and proposed a parley near the conduit of the upper pool,
in the highway of the fuller s field. Hezekiah did not
venture to go in person to the meeting-place; he sent

Isa. xxii. 1-14. 2 J SOL xx i{ 15.19.

1 In the duplicate narrative of these negotiations with the Assyrian
generals, Shebna is in fact considered as a mere scribe, while Eliakim is the
prefect of the king s house (2 Kings xviii. 18, 37 ; xix. 2 : Isa. xxxvi. 3, 22 :
xxxvii. 2).

VOL. VIII. D

34 SENNACHERIB

Eliakirn, the new prefect of the palace, Shebna, and the
chancellor Joah, the chief cupbearer, and tradition relates
that the Assyrian addressed them in severe terms in his
master s name : " Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou
rehellest against me ? Behold, thou trustest upon the
staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt ; whereon if a
man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it : so is
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, to all that trust on him." Then,
as he continued to declaim in a loud voice, so that the
crowds gathered on the wall could hear him, the delegates
besought him to speak in Aramaic, which they understood,
but " speak not to us in the Jews language, in the ears
of the people that are on the wall ! Instead, however,
of granting their request, the Assyrian general advanced
towards the spectators and addressed them in Hebrew :
" Hear ye the words of the great king, the King of Assyria.
Let not Hezekiah deceive you ; for he shall not be able
to deliver you : neither let Hezekiah make you trust in
the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us : this
city shall not be given into the hand of the King of
Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah : for thus saith the
King of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out
to me ; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one
of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his
own cistern ; until I come and take you away to a land
like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of
bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you,
saying, The Lord will deliver us ! The specified con
ditions were less hard than might have been feared. 1 The

1 The Hebrew version of these events is recorded in 2 Kings xviii. 13-37 ;

HEZEKIAH S INDEMNITY 35

Jewish king was to give up his wives and daughters as
hostages, to pledge himself to pay a regular tribute, and
disburse immediately a ransom of thirty talents of gold,
and eight hundred talents of silver : he could only make
up this large sum by emptying the royal and sacred
treasuries, and taking down the plates of gold with which
merely a short while before he had adorned the doors and
lintels of the temple. Padi was released from his long
captivity, reseated on his throne, and received several
Jewish towns as an indemnity : other portions of territory
were bestowed upon Mitinti of Ashdod and Zillibel of Gaza
as a reward for their loyalty. 1 Hezekiah issued from the

xix., and in Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii., with only one important divergence, namely,
the absence from Isaiah of verses 14-16 of 2 Kings xviii. This particular
passage, in which the name of the king has a peculiar form, is a detached
fragment of an older document, perhaps the official annala of the kingdom,
whose contents agreed with the facts recorded in the Assyrian text. The
rest is borrowed from the cycle of prophetic narratives, and contains two
different versions of the same events. The first comprises 2 Kings xviii. 1 3,
17-37 ; xix. l-9a, 366-37, where Sennacherib is represented as despatching
a verbal message to Hezekiah by the Tartan and his captains. The second
consists merely of 2 Kings xix. 9&-36a, and in this has been inserted a long
prophecy of Isaiah s (xix. 21-31) which has but a vague connection with the
rest of the narrative. In this Sennacherib defied Hezekiah in a letter, which
the Jewish king spread before the Lord, and shortly afterwards received a
reply through the prophet. The two versions were combined towards the
end of the seventh or beginning of the sixth century, by the compiler of the
Book of Kings, and passed thence into the collection of the prophecies
attributed to Isaiah.

1 The sequence of events is not very well observed in the Assyrian text,
and the liberation of Padi is inserted in 11. 8-11, before the account of the
war with Hezekiah. It seems very unlikely that the King of Judah would
have released his prisoner before his treaty with Sennacherib ; the Assyrian
scribe, wishing to bring together all the facts relating to Ekron, anticipated
this event. Hebrew tradition fixed the ransom at the lowest figure, 300

36 SENNACHERIB

struggle with his territory curtailed and his kingdom
devastated ; the last obstacle which stood in the way of
the Assyrians victorious advance fell with him, and
Sennacherib could now push forward with perfect safety
towards the Nile. He had, indeed, already planned an
attack on Egypt, and had reached the isthmus, when a
mysterious accident arrested his further progress. The
conflict on the plains of Altaku had been severe ; and
the army, already seriously diminished by its victory, had
been still further weakened during the campaign in Juda3a,
and possibly the excesses indulged in by the soldiery had
developed in them the germs of one of those terrible
epidemics which had devastated Western Asia several
times in the course of the century : whatever may have
been the cause, half the army was destroyed by pestilence
before it reached the frontier of the Delta, and Sennacherib
led back the shattered remnants of his force to Nineveh. 1
The Hebrews did not hesitate to ascribe the event to
the vengeance of Jahveh, and to make it a subject of

talents of silver instead of the 800 given in the Assyrian document (2 Kingx
xviii. 14), and authorities have tried to reconcile this divergence by specula
ting on the different values represented by a talent in different countries
and epochs.

1 The Assyrian texts are silent about this catastrophe, and the sacred
books of the Hebrews seem to refer it to the camp at Libnah in Palestine
(2 Kings xix. 8-35) ; the Egyptian legend related by Herodotus seems to
prove that it took place near the Egyptian frontier. Josephus takes the
king as far as Pelusium, and describes the destruction of the Assyrian army
as taking place in the camp before this town. He may have been misled by
the meaning " mud," which attaches to the name of Libnah as well as to that
of Pelusium. Oppert upheld his opinion, and identified the Libnah of the
biblical narrative with the Pelusium of Herodotus. It is probable that each
of the two nations referred the scene of the miracle to a different locality.

SENNACHERIB S LETTER OF DEFIANCE 37

thankfulness. They related that before their brutal con
queror quitted the country he had sent a parting message
to Hezekiah : "Let not thy God in whom thou trustest
deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into
the hand of the King of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard
what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by
destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my
fathers have destroyed, Grozan and Haran and Eezeph,
and the children of Eden which were in Telassar ? Where
is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the
King of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah ?
Hezekiah, having received this letter of defiance, laid it
in the temple before Jahveh, and prostrated himself in
prayer : the response came to him through the mouth .of
Isaiah. "Thus saith the Lord concerning the King of
Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an
arrow there, neither shall he come before it with a shield,
nor cast a mount against it. By the way that he came,
by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto
this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to
save it, for Mine own sake and for My servant David s
sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of
the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians an hundred four-score and five thousand : and
when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were
all dead corpses." l The Egyptians considered the event

1 2 Kings xix. 8-35 ; Isa. xxxvii. 8-36 ; this is the second tradition of
which mention has been made, but already amalgamated with the first to
form the narrative as it now stands.

38 SENNACHERIB

no less miraculous than did the Hebrews, and one of their
popular tales ascribed the prodigy to Phtah, the god of
Memphis. Sethon, the high priest of Phtah, lived in a
time of national distress, and the warrior class, whom he
had deprived of some of its privileges, refused to take up
arms in his behalf. He repaired, therefore, to the temple
to implore divine assistance, and, falling asleep, was visited
by a dream. The god appeared to him, and promised to
send him some auxiliaries who should ensure him success.
He enlisted such of the Egyptians as were willing to follow
him, shopkeepers, fullers, and sutlers, and led them to
Pelusium to resist the threatened invasion. In the night
a legion of field-mice came forth, whence no one knew,
and, noiselessly spreading throughout the camp of the
Assyrians, gnawed the quivers, the bowstrings, and the
straps of the bucklers in such a way that, on the morrow,
the enemy, finding themselves disarmed, fled after a mere
pretence at resistance, and suffered severe losses. A statue
was long shown in the temple at Memphis portraying this
Sethon : he was represented holding a mouse in his hand,
and the inscription bade men reverence the god who had
wrought this miracle. 1

The disaster was a terrible one : Sennacherib s tri
umphant advance was suddenly checked, and he was
forced to return to Asia when the goal of his ambition was

1 The statue with which this legend has been connected, must have
represented a king offering the image of a mouse crouching on a basket, like
the cynocephalus on the hieroglyphic sign which denotes centuries, or the
frog of the goddess Hiqit. Historians have desired to recognise in Sethon a
KingZet of the XXIII rd dynasty, or even Shabitoku of the XXV th dynasty ;
Krall identified him with Satni in the demotic story of Satni-Klidmols.

THE EGYPTIAN DISASTER AT PELUSIUM 39

almost reached. The loss of a single army, however much
to be deplored, was not irreparable, since Assyria could
furnish her sovereign with a second force as numerous as
that which lay buried in the desert on the road to Egypt,
but it was uncertain what effect the news of the calamity
and the sight of the survivors might have on the minds of his
subjects and rivals. The latter took no immediate action,
and the secret joy which they must have experienced did
not blind them to the real facts of the case ; for though
the power of Assyria was shaken, she was still stronger
than any one of them severally, or even than all of them
together, and to attack her or rebel against her now, was
to court defeat with as much certainty as in past days.
The Pharaoh kept himself behind his rivers ; the military
science and skill which had baffled his generals on the field
of Altaku did not inspire him with any desire to reappear
on the plains of Palestine. Hezekiah, King of Judah, had
emptied his treasury to furnish his ransom, his strongholds
had capitulated one by one, and his territory, diminished
by the loss of some of the towns of the Shephelah, was
little better than a waste of smoking ruins. He thought
himself fortunate to have preserved his power under the
suzerainty of Assyria, and his sole aim for many years was
to refill his treasury, reconstitute his army, and re-establish
his kingdom. The Philistine and Nabatsean princes, and
the chiefs of Moab, Arnmon, and Idumsea, had nothing to
gain by war, being too feeble to have any chance of success
without the help of Judah, Tyre, and Egypt. The Syrians
maintained a peaceful attitude, which was certainly their
wisest policy ; and during the following quarter of a century

40 SENNACHERIB

they loyally obeyed their governors, and gave Senna
cherib no cause to revisit them. It was fortunate for him
that they did so, for the peoples of the North and East,
the Kalda, and, above all, the Elamites, were the cause
of much trouble, and exclusively occupied his attention
during several years. * The inhabitants of Bit-Yakin, urged
on either by their natural restlessness or by the news of
the misfortune which had befallen their enemy, determined
once more to try the fortunes of war. Incited by Marduk-
ushezib, 1 one of their princes, and by Merodach-baladan,
these people of the marshes intrigued with the courts of
Babylon and Susa, and were emboldened to turn against
the Assyrian garrisons stationed in their midst to preserve
order. Sennacherib s vengeance fell first on Marduk-
ushezib, who fled from his stronghold of Bittutu after
sustaining a short siege. Merodach-baladan, deserted by
his accomplice, put the statues of his gods and his royal
treasures on board his fleet, and embarking with his
followers, crossed the lagoon, and effected a landing in
the district of Nagitu, in Susian territory, beyond the
mouth of the Ulai. 2 Sennacherib entered Bit-Yakin. with
out striking a blow, and completed the destruction of the
half-deserted town ; he next proceeded to demolish the
other cities one after the other, carrying off into captivity
all the men and cattle who fell in his way. The Elamites,

1 Three kings of Babylon at this period bore very similar names -
Marduk-ushezib, Nergal-ushezib, and Mushezib-marduk. Nergal-ushezib is
the elder of the two whom the texts call Shuzub, and whom Assyriologists
at first confused one with another.

2 Nagitu was bounded by the Nar-Marratum and the Ulai, which allows
us to identify it with the territory south of Edrisieh.

ORDER RESTORED IN KARDUNIASH 41

disconcerted by the rapidity of his action, allowed him
to crush their allies unopposed ; and as they had not
openly intervened, the conqueror refrained from calling
them, to account for their intrigues. Babylon paid the
penalty for all : its sovereign, Belibni, who had failed to
make the sacred authority of the suzerain respected in the
city, and who, perhaps, had taken some part in the con
spiracy, was with his family deported to Nineveh, and his
vacant throne was given to Assur-nadin-shumu, a younger
son of Sargon (699 B.C.). 1 Order was once more restored
in Karduniash, but Sennacherib felt that its submission
would be neither sincere nor permanent, so long as
Merodach-baladan was hovering on its frontier possessed
of an army, a fleet, and a supply of treasure, and prepared
to enter the lists as soon as circumstances seemed favour
able to his cause. Sennacherib resolved, therefore, to
cross the head of the Persian Gulf and deal him such a
blow as would once for all end the contest ; but- troubles
which broke out on the Urartian frontier as soon as he
returned forced him to put off his project. The tribes of
Tumurru, who had placed their strongholds like eyries
among the peaks of Nipur, had been making frequent
descents on the plains of the Tigris, which they had
ravaged unchecked by any fear of Assyrian power. Senna
cherib formed an entrenched camp at the foot of their

1 Berosus, misled by the deposition of Belibni, thought that the
expedition was directed against Babylon itself ; he has likewise confounded
Assur-nadin-shumu with Esar-haddon, and he has given this latter, whom he
calls Asordanes, as the immediate successor of Belibni. The date 699 B.C.
for these events is indicated in Pinches Babylonian Chronicle, which places
them in the third year of Belibni.

42 SENNACHERIB

mountain retreat, and there left the greater part of his
army, while he set out on an adventurous expedition with
a picked body of infantry and cavalry. Over ravines and
torrents, up rough and difficult slopes, they made their
way, the king himself being conveyed in a litter, as there
were no roads practicable for his royal chariot ; he even
deigned to walk when the hillsides were too steep for his
bearers to carry him ; he climbed like a goat, slept on the
bare rocks, drank putrid water from a leathern bottle, and
after many hardships at length came up with the enemy.
He burnt their villages, and carried off herds of cattle and
troops of captives ; but this exploit was more a satisfaction
of his vanity than a distinct advantage gained, for the
pillaging of the plains of the Tigris probably recommenced
as soon as the king had quitted the country. The same
year he pushed as far as Dayaini, here similar tactics
were employed. Constructing a camp in the neighbour
hood of Mount Anara and Mount Uppa, he forced his way
to the capital, Ukki, traversing a complicated network
of gorges and forests which had hitherto been considered
impenetrable. The king, Maniya, fled ; Ukki was taken
by assault and pillaged, the spoil obtained from it slightly
exceeding that from Tumurru (699 B.C.). Shortly after
wards the province of Tulgarimme revolted in concert with
the Tabal : Sennacherib overcame the allied forces, and
led his victorious regiments through the denies of the
Taurus. 1 Greek pirates or colonists having ventured from

1 The dates of and connection between these two wars are not deter
mined with any certainty. Some authorities assign them both to the
same year, somewhere between 699 and 696 B.C., while others assign them

A IUID AMONG THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS.

Drawn by Fauclicr-Gudm, from LAYAUD. Monuments of Nineveh, vol. i, pi. 70.

THE EXPEDITION AGAINST ELAM 45

time to time to ravage the seaboard, he destroyed one of
their fleets near the mouth of the Saros, and took advantage
of his sojourn in this region to fortify the two cities of
Tarsus and Ankhiale, to defend his Cilician frontier against
the peoples of Asia Minor. 1

This was a necessary precaution, for the whole of Asia
Minor was just then stirred by the inrush of new nations
which were devastating the country, and the effect of these
convulsions was beginning to be felt in the country to the
south of the central plain, at the foot of the Taurus, and
on the frontiers of the Assyrian empire. Barbarian hordes,
attracted by the fame of the ancient Hittite sanctuaries
in the upper basin of the Euphrates and the Araxes, had
descended now and again to measure their strength against
the advanced posts of Assyria or Urartu, but had subse
quently withdrawn and disappeared beyond the Halys.
Their movements may at this time have been so aggressive
as to arouse serious anxiety in the minds of the Ninevite
rulers ; it is certain that Sennacherib, though apparently
hindered by no revolt, delayed the execution of the projects
he had formed against Merodach-baladan for three years ;
and it is possible his inaction may be attributed to the fear
of some complication arising on his north-western frontier.
He did not carry out his scheme till 695 B.C., when all

to two different years, the first to G99 or 69G B.C., the second to G98
or 695 B.C.

1 The encounter of the Assyrians with the Greeks is only known to us
from a fragment of Berosus. The foundation of Tarsus is definitely attributed
to Sennacherib in the same passage ; that of Ankhiale is referred to the
fabulous Sardanapalus, but most historians with much probability attribute
the foundation to Sennacherib.

46 SENNACHERIB

danger in that quarter had passed away. The enterprise
was a difficult one, for Nagltu and the neighbouring
districts were dependencies of Snsa, and could not be
reached by land without a violation of Elarnite neutrality,
which would almost inevitably lead to a conflict. Shutruk-
nakhunta was no longer alive. In the very year in which
his rival had set up Assur-nadin-shumu as King of
Karduniash, a revolution had broken out in Elam, which
was in all probability connected with the events then
taking place in Babylon. His subjects were angry with
him for having failed to send timely succour to his allies
the Kalda, and for having allowed Blt-Yakln to be de
stroyed : his own brother Khalludush sided with the malcon
tents, threw Shutruk-nakhunta into prison, and proclaimed
himself king. This time the Ninevites, thinking that
Elam was certain to intervene, sought how they might
finally overpower Merodach-baladan before this interference
could prove effectual. The feudal constitution of the
Elamite monarchy rendered, as we know, the mobilisation
of the army at the opening of a war a long and difficult
task : weeks might easily elapse before the first and second
grades of feudatory nobility could join the royal troops and
form a combined army capable of striking an important
blow. This was a cause of dangerous inferiority in a
conflict with the Assyrians, the chief part of whose forces,
bivouacking close to the capital during the winter months,
could leave their quarters and set out on a campaign at
little more than a day s notice ; the kings of Elam mini
mised the danger by keeping sufficient troops under arms
on their northern and western frontiers to meet any

DIFFICULTIES OF NAVIGATION 47

emergency, but an attack by sea seemed to them so
unlikely that they had not, for a long time past, thought
of protecting their coast-line. The ancient Chaldean
cities, Uru, Lagash, Uruk, and Eridu had possessed fleets
on the Persian Gulf ; but the times were long past when
they used to send to procure stone and wood from the
countries of Magan and Melukhkha, and the seas which
they had ruled were now traversed only by merchant
vessels or fishing-boats. Besides this, the condition of
the estuary seemed to prohibit all attack from that side.
The space between Bit-Yakin and the long line of dunes or
mud-banks which blocked the entrance to it was not so
much a gulf as a lagoon of uncertain and shifting extent ;
the water flowed only in the middle, being stagnant near
the shores ; the whole expanse was irregularly dotted over
with mud-banks, and its service was constantly altered by
the alluvial soil brought down by the Tigris, the Euphrates,
the Ulai, and the Uknu. The navigation of this lagoon
was dangerous, for the relative positions of the channels
and shallows were constantly shifting, and vessels of deep
draught often ran aground in passing from one end of it to
the other. 1 Sennacherib decided to march his force to the

1 The condition I describe here is very similar to what Alexander s
admirals found 350 years later. Arrian has preserved for us the account of
Nearchus navigation in these waters, and his description shows such a well-
defined condition of the estuary that its main outline must have remained
unchanged for a considerable time ; the only subsequent alterations which
had taken place must have been in the internal configuration, where the
deposit of alluvium must have necessarily reduced the area of the lake since
the time of Sennacherib. The little map on the next page has no pre
tension to scientific exactitude ; its only object is to show roughly what the
estuary of the Euphrates was like, and to illustrate approximately the course
jpf the Assyrian expedition.

48

SENNACHERIB

month of the Euphrates, and, embarking it there, to bring
it to bear suddenly on the portion of Elamite territory
nearest to Nagitu : if all went well, he would thus have time
to crush the rising power of Merodach-baladan and regain
his own port of departure before Khalludush could muster
a sufficient army to render efficient succour to his vassal.

More than a year was consumed in preparations. The
united cities of ChaldaBa being unable to furnish the

transports required to convey
such a large host across the
Nar-Marratum, it was neces
sary to construct a fleet, and
to do so in such a way that
the enemy should have no
suspicion of danger. Senna
cherib accordingly set up his
dockyards at Tul-barsip on the
Euphrates and at Nineveh on the Tigris, and Syrian ship
wrights built him a fleet of vessels after two distinct types.
Some were galleys identical in build and equipment with
those which the Mediterranean natives used for their traffic
with distant lands. The others followed the old Baby
lonian model, with stem and stern both raised, the bows
being sometimes distinguished by the carving of a horse s
head, which justified the name of sea-horse given to a
vessel of this kind. They had no masts, but propelling
power was provided by two banks of oars one above the
other, as in the galleys. The two divisions of the fleet
were, ready at the beginning of 094 B.C., and it was
arranged that they should meet at Bit-Dakkuri, to the

THE NAR-MARRATUM
in the tirne oi

SENNACHERIB

Scale

THE ASSYRIAN FLEET ON THE NAR-MARRATUM 49

south of Babylon. The fleet from Tul-barsip had merely
to descend the Euphrates to reach the meeting-place, 1 but
that from Nineveh had to make a more complicated

THE FLEET OF SENNACHERIB ON THE 5AB-MABKATUM. 1

journey. By following the course of the Tigris to its
mouth it would have had to skirt the coast of Elam for

1 The story of the preparations, as it has been transmitted to us in
Sennacherib s inscriptions, is curiously similar to the accounts given by the
Greek historians of the vessels Alexander had built at Babylon and Thap-
sacus by Phoenician workmen, which descended the Euphrates to join the
fleet in the Persian Gulf. This fleet consisted of quinquiremes, according to
Aristobulus, who was present at their construction : Quintus-Curtius makes
them all vessels with seven banks of oars, but he evidently confuses the
galleys built at Thapsacus with those which came in sections from Phoenicia
and which Alexander had put together at Babylon.
; Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

VOL. VIII. E

50 SENNACHERIB

a considerable distance, and would inevitably have aroused
the suspicions of Khalludush ; the passage of such a strong
squadron must have revealed to him the importance of
the enterprise, and put him on his guard. The vessels
therefore stayed their course at Upi, where they were
drawn ashore and transported on rollers across the narrow
isthmus which separates the Tigris from the Arakhtu canal,
on which they were then relaunched. Either the canal
had not been well kept, or else it never had the necessary
depth at certain places ; but the crews managed to over
come all obstacles and rejoined their comrades in due time.
Sennacherib was ready waiting for them with all his
troops foot-soldiers, charioteers, and horsemen and with
supplies of food for the men, and of barley and oats for
the horses ; as soon as the last contingent had arrived,
he gave the signal for departure, and all advanced together,
the army marching along the southern bank, the fleet
descending the current, to the little port of Bab-Salimeti,
some twelve miles below the mouth of the river. 1 There
they halted in order to proceed to the final embarcation,
but at the last moment their inexperience of the sea
nearly compromised the success of the expedition. Even
if they were not absolutely ignorant of the ebb and flow
of the tide, they certainly did not know how dangerous
the spring tide could prove at the equinox under the
influence of a south wind. The rising tide then comes

1 The mouth of the Euphrates being at that time not far from the site
of Kornah, Bab-Salimeti, which was about twelve miles distant, must have
been somewhere near the present village of Abu-Hatira, on the south bank
of the river.

DESCENT ON NAGITU 51

into conflict with the volume of water brought down by
the stream, and in the encounter the banks are broken
down, and sometimes large districts are inundated : this
is what happened that year, to the terror of the Assyrians.
Their camp was invaded and completely flooded by the
waves ; the king and his soldiers took refuge in haste
on the galleys, where they were kept prisoners for five
days " as in a huge cage." As soon as the waters abated,
they completed their preparations and started on their
voyage. At the point where the Euphrates enters the
lagoon, Sennacherib pushed forward to the front of the
line, and, standing in the bows of his flag-ship, offered a
sacrifice to Ea, the god of the Ocean. Having made a
solemn libation, he threw into the water a gold model of
a ship, a golden fish, and an image of the god himself,
likewise in gold ; this ceremony performed, he returned
to the port of Bab-Salimeti with his guard, while the
bulk of his forces continued their voyage eastward. The
passage took place without mishap, but they could not
disembark on the shore of the gulf itself, which was un
approachable by reason of the deposits of semi-liquid mud
which girdled it ; they therefore put into the mouth of
the Ulai, and ascended the river till they reached a spot
where the slimy reed-beds gave place to firm ground,
which permitted them to draw their ships to land. 1 The
inhabitants assembled hastily at sight of the enemy, and
the news, spreading through the neighbouring tribes,

1 Billerbeck recognises in the narrative of Sennacherib the indication of
two attempts at debarcation, of which the second only can have been success
ful ; I can distinguish only one crossing.

52

SENNACHERIB

brought together for their defence a confused crowd of
archers, chariots, and horsemen. The Assyrians, leaping
into the stream and climbing up the bank, easily over-

A SKIRMISH IN THE MARSHES. 1

powered these undisciplined troops. They captured at
the first onset Nagitu, Nagitu-Dibina, Khilmu, Pillatu,
and Khupapanu ; and raiding the Kalda, forced them
on board the fleet with their gods, their families, their
flocks, and household possessions, and beat a hurried

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

THE INVASION OF ELAM 53

retreat with their booty. Merodach-baladan himself and
his children once more escaped their clutches, but the
State he had tried to create was annihilated, and his
power utterly crushed. Sennacherib received his generals
with great demonstrations of joy at Bab-Salimeti, and
carried the spoil in triumph to Nineveh. Khalludush, ex
asperated by the affront put upon him, instantly retaliated
by invading Karduniash, where he pushed forward as far
as Sippara, pillaging and destroying the inhabitants with
out opposition. The Babylonians who had accompanied
Merodach-baladan into exile, returned in the train of
the Elamites, and, secretly stealing back to their homes,
stirred up a general revolt : Assur-nadin-shumu, taken
prisoner by his own subjects, was put in chains and
despatched to Susa, his throne being bestowed on a
Babylonian named Nergal-ushezib, 1 who at once took
the field (694 B.C.). His preliminary efforts were success
ful : he ravaged the frontier along the Turnat with the
help of the Elamites, and took by assault the city of
Nipur, which refused to desert the cause of Sennacherib
(693 B.C.). Meanwhile the Assyrian generals had captured
Uruk (Erech) on the 1st of Tisri, after the retreat of
Khalludush ; and having sacked the city, were retreating
northwards with their spoil when they were defeated on
the 7th near Nipur by Nergal-ushezib. He had already
rescued the statues of the gods and the treasure, when
his horse fell in the midst of the fray, and he could not

This is the prince whom the Assyrian documents name Shuzub, and
whom we might call Shuzub the Babylonian, in contradistinction to Mushezib-
marduk, who is Shuzub the Kaldu

SENNACHERIB

disengage himself. His vanquished foes led him captive
to Nineveh, where Sennacherib exposed him in chains
at the principal gateway of his palace : the Babylonians,
who owed to him their latest success, summoned a Kaldu
prince, Mushezib-marduk, son of Gahul, to take command.
He hastened to comply, and with the assistance of Elamite
troops offered such a determined resistance to all attack,

that he was finally
left in undisturbed
possession of his
kingdom (692
B.C.) : the actual
result to Assyria,
therefore, of the
ephemeral victory
gained by the fleet
had been the loss
, of Babylon.

A revolution in

Elam speedily afforded Assyria an opportunity for revenge.
When Nergal-ushezib was taken prisoner, the people of
Susa, dissatisfied with the want of activity displayed by
Khalludush, conspired to depose him : on hearing, there
fore, the news of the revolutions in Chaldaea, they rose
in revolt on the 26th of Tisri, and, besieging him in
his palace, put him to death, and elected a certain
Kutur-nakhunta as his successor. Sennacherib, without
a moment s hesitation, crossed the frontier at Durilu,
before order was re-established at Susa, and recovered,

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

THE HORSE OF XEKGAL-USIIEZIB FALLIXG IX THE BATTLE.

THE MARCH UPON MADAKTU 55

after very slight resistance, Baza and Bit-khairi which
Shutruk-nakhunta had taken from Sargon. This prelimi
nary success laid the lower plain of Susiana at his mercy,
and he ravaged it pitilessly from Raza to Bit-bunaki.
" Thirty-four strongholds and the townships depending on
them, whose number is unequalled, I besieged and took by
assault, their inhabitants I led into captivity, I demolished
them and reduced them to ashes : I caused the smoke of
their burning to rise into the wide heaven, like the smoke
of one great sacrifice." Kutur-nakhunta, still insecurely
seated on the throne of Susa, retreated with his army
towards Khatdalu, in the almost unexplored regions which
bordered the Iranian plateau, 1 and entrenched himself
strongly in the heart of the mountains. The season was
already well advanced when the Assyrians set out on this
expedition, and November set in while they were ravaging
the plain : but the weather was still so fine that Sennacherib
determined to take advantage of it to march upon Madaktu.
Hardly had he scaled the heights when winter fell upon
him with its accompaniment of cold and squally weather.
" Violent storms broke out, it rained and snowed in
cessantly, the torrents and streams overflowed their banks,"
so that hostilities had to be suspended and the troops
ordered back to Nineveh. The effect produced, however,
by these bold measures was in no way diminished : though
Kutur-nakhunta had not had the necessary time to prepare
for the contest, he was nevertheless discredited among his
subjects for failing to bring them out of it with glory,
and three months after the retreat of the Assyrians he was

1 Khaidalu is very probably the present Dis Malkan.

56 SENNACHERIB

assassinated in a riot on the 20th of Ab, 692 B.C. 1 His
younger brother, Umman-minanu, assumed the crown, and
though his enemies disdainfully refused to credit him with
either prudence or judgment, he soon restored his kingdom
to such a formidable degree of power that Mushezib-marduk
thought the opportunity a favourable one for striking a
blow at Assyria, from which she could never recover.
Elain had plenty of troops, but was deficient in the
resources necessary to pay the men and their chiefs, and
to induce the tribes of the table-land to furnish their
contingents. Mushezib-marduk, therefore, emptied the
sacred treasury of E-sagilla, and sent the gold and silver
of Bel and Zarpanit to Umman-minanu with a message
which ran thus: "Assemble thine army, and prepare thy
camp, come to Babylon and strengthen our hands, for
thou art our help." The Elamite asked nothing better
than to avenge the provinces so cruelly harassed, and the
cities consumed in the course of the last campaign : he
summoned all his nobles, from the least to the greatest,
and enlisted the help of the troops of Parsuas, Ellipi, and
Anzau, the Ararna3an Puqudu and Gambulu of the Tigris,
as well as the Arama3ans of the Euphrates, and the peoples
of Blt-Adini and Blt-Amukkani, who had rallied round
Samuna, son of Merodach-baladan, and joined forces with
the soldiers of Mushezib-marduk in Babylon. "Like an
invasion of countless locusts swooping down upon the land,

1 The Assyrian documents merely mention the death of Kutur-nakhunta
less than three months after the return of Sennacherib to Nineveh. Pinches
Babylonian Chronicle only mentions the revolution in which he perished, and
informs us that he had reigned ten months. It contracts Umman-minanu,

the name of the Elamite king, to Minanu.

SENNACHERIB VICTORIOUS 57

they assembled, resolved to give ine battle, and the dust
of their feet rose before rne, like a thick cloud which
darkens the copper-coloured dome of the sky." The
conflict took place near the township of Khalule, on the
banks of the Tigris, not far from the confluence of this
river with the Turnat. 1 At this point the Turnat, flowing
through the plain, divides into several branches, which
ramify again and again, and form a kind of delta extending
from the ruins of Nayan to those of Keshadeh. During
the whole of the day the engagement between the two
hosts raged on this unstable soil, and their leaders
themselves sold their lives dearly in the struggle.
Sennacherib invoked the help of Assur, Sin, Shamash,
Nebo, Bel, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, and Ishtar of Arbela,
and the gods heard his prayers. " Like a lion I raged,
I donned my harness, I covered my head with my casque,
the badge of war ; my powerful battle-chariot, which mows
down the rebels, I ascended it in haste in the rage of my
heart ; the strong bow which Assur entrusted to me, I
seized it, and the javelin, destroyer of life, I grasped it :
the whole host of obdurate rebels I charged, shining like
silver or like the day, and I roared as Bamman roareth."
Khumba-undash, the Elamite general, was killed in one
of the first encounters, and many of his officers perished

1 Haupt attributes to the name the signification holes, bogs, and this
interpretation agrees well enough with the state of the country round the
mouths of the Diyala, in the low-lying district which separates that river
from the Tigris ; he compares it with the name Haulayeb, quoted by Arab
geographers in this neighbourhood, and with that of the canton of Haleh,
mentioned in Syrian texts as belonging to the district of Radhan, between
the Adhem and the Diyala.

58 SENNACHERIB

around him, " of those who wore golden daggers at their
belts, and bracelets of gold on their wrists." They fell one
after the other, "like fat bulls chained ; for the sacrifice,
or like sheep, and their blood flowed on the broad plain
as the water after a violent storm : the horses plunged in
it up to their knees, and the body of the royal chariot
was reddened with it. A son of Merodach-baladan, Xabu-
shumishkun, was taken prisoner, but Umman-minanu and
Mushezib-inarduk escaped unhurt from the fatal field.
It seems as if fortune had at last decided in favour of
the Assyrians, and they proclaimed the fact loudly, but
their success was not so evident as to preclude their
adversaries also claiming the victory with some show of
truth. In any case, the losses on both sides were so
considerable as to force the two belligerents to suspend
operations ; they returned each to his capital, and matters
remained much as they had been before the battle took
place. 1

Years might have elapsed before Sennacherib could
have,, ventured to recommence hostilities : he was not
deluded by the exaggerated estimate of his victory in the
accounts given by his court historians, and he recognised
the fact that the issue of the struggle must be uncertain

1 Pinches Babylonian Chronicle attributes the victory to the Elamites,
and says that the year in which the battle was fought was unknown. The
testimony of this chronicle is so often marred by partiality, that to prefer it
always to that of the Xinevite inscriptions shows deficiency of critical ability :
the course of events seems to me to prove that the advantage remained with the
Assyrians, though the victory was not decisive. The date, which necessarily
falls between 692 and 689 B.C., has been decided by general considerations
as 691 B.C., the very year in which the Taylor Cylinder was written.

BATTLE OF KHALULE 59

as long as the alliance subsisted between Elam and
Chaldaea. But fortune came to his aid sooner than he had
expected. Umnian-ininanu was not absolute in his
dominions any more than his predecessors had been, and
the losses he had sustained at Khaluld, without obtaining
any compensating advantages in the form of prisoners or
spoil, had lowered him in the estimation of his vassals ;
Mushezib-marduk, on the other hand, had emptied his
treasuries, and though Karduniash was wealthy, it was
hardly able, after such a short interval, to provide further
subsidies to purchase the assistance of the mountain tribes.
Sennacherib s emissaries kept him well informed of all that
occurred in the enemy s court, and he accordingly took the
field again at the beginning of 689 B.C., and on this occasion
circumstances seemed likely to combine to give him an
easy victory. 1 Mushezib-marduk shut himself up in
Babylon, not doubting that the Elamites would hasten to
his succour as soon as they should hear of his distress ; but
his expectation was not fulfilled. Umman-minanu was
struck down by apoplexy, on the 15th of Nisau, and though
his illness did not at once terminate fatally, he was left
paralysed with distorted mouth, and loss of speech,
incapable of action, and almost unfit to govern. His
seizure put a stop to his warlike preparations : and his
ministers, preoccupied with the urgent question of the

1 The Assyrian documents insert the account of the capture of Babylon
directly after the battle of Khalule, and modern historians therefore con
cluded that the two events took place within a few months of each other.
The information afforded by Pinches Babylonian Chronicle has enabled us to
correct this mistake, and to bring down the date of the taking of Babylon to
689 B.C.

60 SENNACHERIB

succession to the throne, had no desire to provoke a
conflict with Assyria, the issue of which could not be
foretold : they therefore left their ally to defend his own
interests as best he might. Babylon, reduced to rely
entirely on its own resources, does not seem to have held
out long, and perhaps the remembrance of the treatment it
had received on former occasions may account for the very
slight resistance it now offered. The Assyrian kings who
had from time to time conquered Babylon, had always
treated it with great consideration. They had looked upon
it as a sacred city, whose caprices and outbreaks must
always be pardoned ; it was only with infinite precautions
that they had imposed their commands upon it, and even
when they had felt that severity was desirable, they had
restrained themselves in using it, and humoured the
idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants. Tiglath-pileser III.,
Shalmaneser V., and Sargon had all preferred to be legally
crowned as sovereigns of Babylon instead of remaining
merely its masters by right of conquest, and though
Sennacherib had refused compliance with the traditions by
which his predecessors had submitted to be bound, he had
behaved with unwonted lenity after quelling the two
previous revolts. He now recognised that his clemency
had been shown in vain, and his small stock of patience
was completely exhausted just when fate threw the
rebellious city into his power. If the inhabitants had
expected to be once more let off easily, their illusions were
speedily dissipated : they were slain by the sword as if
they had been ordinary foes, such as Jews, Tibarenians, or
Kalda of Bit-Yakin, and they were spared none of the

TAKING AND DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON 01

horrors which custom then permitted the stronger to inflict
upon the weaker. For several days the pitiless massacre
lasted. Young and old, all who fell into the hands of the
soldiery, perished by the sword ; piles of corpses filled the
streets and the approaches to the temples, especially

A

the avenue of winged bulls which led to E-sagilla, and,
even after the first fury of carnage had been appeased, it
was only to be succeeded by more organised pillage.
Mushezib-marduk was sent into exile with his family, and
immense convoys of prisoners and spoil followed him. The
treasures carried off from the royal palace, the temples, and
the houses of the rich nobles were divided among the
conquerors : they comprised gold, silver, precious stones,
costly stuffs, and provisions of all sorts. The sacred
edifices were sacked, the images hacked to pieces or carried
off to Nineveh : Bel-Marduk, introduced into the sanctuary
of Assur, became subordinate to the rival deity amid a
crowd of strange gods. In the inmost recess of a chapel
were discovered some ancient statues of Eamman and Shala
of E-kallati, which Marduk-nadin-akh had carried off in
the time of Tiglath-pileser I., and these were brought back
in triumph to their own land, after an absence of four
hundred and eighteen years. The buildings themselves
suffered a like fate to that of their owners and their gods.
" The city and its houses, from foundation to roof, I
destroyed them, I demolished them, I burnt them with
fire ; walls, gateways, sacred chapels, and the towers of
earth and tiles, I laid them all low and cast them into the
Arakhtu." The incessant revolts of the people justified
this wholesale destruction. Babylon, as we have said

62 SENNACHERIB

before, was too powerful to be reduced for long to the
second rank in a Mesopotarnian empire : as soon as fate
established the seat of empire in the districts bordering on
the Euphrates and the middle course of the Tigris, its well-
chosen situation, its size, its riches, the extent of its
population, the number of its temples, and the beauty of its
palaces, all conspired to make it the capital of the country.
In vain Assur, Calah, or Nineveh thrust themselves into
the foremost rank, and by a strenuous effort made their
princes rulers of Babylon; in a short time Babylon
replenished her treasury, found allies, soldiers, and leaders,
and in spite of reverses of fortune soon regained the upper
hand. The only treatment which could effectually destroy
her ascendency was that of leaving in her not one brick
upon another, thus preventing her from being re-peopled for
several generations, since a new city could not at once
spring up from the ashes of the old; until she had been
utterly destroyed her conquerors had still reason to fear her.
This fact Sennacherib, or his councillors, knew well. If he
merits any reproach, it is not for having seized the oppor
tunity of destroying the city which Babylon offered him,
but rather for not having persevered in his design to the
end, and reduced her to a mere name.

In the midst of these costly and absorbing wars, we may
well wonder how Sennacherib found time and means to
build villas or temples ; yet he is nevertheless, among the
kings of Assyria, the monarch who has left us the largest
number of monuments. He restored a shrine of Nergal
in the small town of Tarbizi ; he fortified the village of
Alshi ; and in 704 B.C. he founded a royal residence in the

THE BUILDINGS AT NINEVEH 63

fortress of Kakzi, which defended the approach to Calah
from the south-east. He did not reside much at Dur-
Sharrukin, neither did he complete the decoration of his
father s palace there : his pride as a victorious warrior
suffered when his surroundings reminded him of a more
successful conqueror than himself, and Calah itself was too
full of memories of Tiglath-pileser III. and the sovereigns
of the eighth century for him to desire to establish his
court there. He preferred to reside at Nineveh, which

THE MOUNDS OF NINEVEH SEEN FROM THE TERRACE OF A HOUSE IN MOSUL. 1

had been much neglected by his predecessors, and where
the crumbling edifices merely recalled the memory of long-
vanished splendours. He selected this city as his resi
dence at the very beginning of his reign, perhaps while he
was still only crown prince, and began by repairing its
ancient fortifications ; later on, when the success of his
earlier campaigns had furnished him with a sufficient
supply of prisoners, he undertook the restoration of the
whole city, with its avenues, streets, canals, quays, gardens,
and aqueducts : the labour of all the captives brought
together from different quarters of his empire was pressed
into the execution of his plans the Kalda, the Aramaeans,

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a lithograph in Layard.

64 SENNACHERIB

the Mannai, the people of Km, the Cilicians, the
Philistines, and the Tyrians ; the provinces vied with each
other in furnishing him with materials without stint,-
precious woods were procured from Syria, marbles from
Kapri-dargila, alabaster from Balad, while Bifc-Yakin
provided the rushes to be laid between the courses of brick
work. The river Tebilti, after causing the downfall of the
royal mausolea and "displaying to the light of day the
coffins which they concealed," had sapped the foundations
of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal, and caused it to fall in :
a muddy pool now occupied the north-western quarter,
between the court of Ishtar and the lofty ziggurat of Assur.
This pool Sennacherib filled up, and regulated the course
of the stream, providing against the recurrence of such
accidents in future by building a substructure of masonry,
454 cubits long by 289 wide, formed of large blocks of stone
cemented together by bitumen. On this he erected a
magnificent palace, a Bit-Khilani in the Syrian style, with
woodwork of fragrant cedar and cypress overlaid with gold
and silver, panellings of sculptured marble and alabaster,
and friezes and cornices in glazed tiles of brilliant colour
ing : inspired by the goddess Nin-kurra, he caused winged
bulls of white alabaster and limestone statues of the gods
to be hewn in the quarries of Balad near Nineveh. He
presided in person at all these operations at the raising
of the soil, the making of the substructures of the terrace,
the transport of the colossal statues or blocks and their
subsequent erection ; indeed, he was to be seen at every
turn, standing in his ebony and ivory chariot, drawn by a
team of men. When the building was finished, he was so

THE BUILDINGS AT NINEVEH

65

delighted with its beauty that he named it " the incompar
able palace," and his admiration was shared by his contem
poraries ; they were never wearied of extolling in glowing
terms the twelve bronze lions, the twelve winged bulls,
and the twenty-four statues of goddesses which kept watch

KING SENNACHERIB WATCHING THE TRANSPORT OF
A COLOSSAL STATUE. 1

over the entrance, and for the construction of which a new
method of rapid casting had been invented. Formerly the
erection of such edifices cost much in suffering to the
artificers employed on them, but Sennacherib brought his
great enterprise to a prompt completion without extravagant
outlay or unnecessary hardship inflicted on his workmen.
He proceeded to annex the neighbouring quarters of the

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.
VOL. VIII. F

06

SENNACHERIB

city, relegating the inhabitants to the suburbs while he laid
out a great park on the land thus cleared ; this park was
well planted with trees, like the heights of Amanus, and in
it flourished side by side all the forest growths indigenous

ASSYRIAN BAS-KELIEFS AT BAVIAN. 1

to the Cilician mountains and the plains of Chaldsea. A
lake, fed by a canal leading from the Khuzur, supplied it
with water, which was conducted in streams and rills
through the thickets, keeping them always fresh and green.
Vines trained on trellises afforded a grateful shade during

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Layard.

ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL S AQUEDUCT ENLARGED 67

the sultry hours of the day ; birds sang in the branches,
herds of wild boar and deer roamed through the coverts,
in order that the prince might enjoy the pleasures of the
chase without quitting his own private grounds. The main
part of these constructions was finished about 700 B.C., but
many details were left incomplete, and the work was still
proceeding after the court had long been in residence on
the spot. Meanwhile a smaller palace, as well as barracks
and a depot for arms and provisions, sprang up elsewhere.
Eighteen aqueducts, carried across the country, brought
the water from the Muzri to the Khuzur, and secured an
adequate supply to the city; the Ninevites, who had
hitherto relied upon rain-water for the replenishing of their
cisterns, awoke one day to find themselves released from
all anxiety on this score. An ancient and semi-subter
ranean canal, which Assur-nazir-pal had constructed nearly
two centuries before, but which, owing to the neglect of
his successors, had become choked up, was cleaned out,
enlarged and repaired, and made capable of bringing water
to their doors from the springs of Mount Tas, in the same
year as that in which the battle of Khalule took place. 1
At a later date, magnificent bas-reliefs, carved on the rock
by order of Esar-haddon, representing winged bulls, figures
of the gods and of the king, with explanatory inscriptions,
marked the site of the springs, and formed a kind of monu
mental fa$ade to the ravine in which they took their rise. 2

1 Mount Tas is the group of hills enclosing the ravine of Bavian. These
works were described in the Bavian inscription, of which they occupy the
whole of the first part.

The Bavian text speaks of six inscriptions and statues which the king
had engraved on the Mount of Tas, at the source of the stream.

68 SENNACHERIB

It would be hard to account for the rapidity with which
these great works were completed, did one not remember
that Sargon had previously carried out extensive archi
tectural schemes, in which he must have employed all
the available artists in his empire. The revolutions which
had shattered the realm under the last descendants of
Assur-nazir-pal, and the consequent impoverishment of
the kingdom, had not been without a disastrous effect
on the schools of Assyrian sculpture. Since the royal
treasury alone was able to bear the expense of those
vast compositions in which the artistic skill of the period
could have free play, the closing of the royal workshops,
owing to the misfortunes of the time, had the immediate
effect of emptying the sculptors studios. Even though
the period of depression lasted for the space of two or
three generations only, it became difficult to obtain artistic
workmen ; and those who were not discouraged from the
pursuit of art by the uncertainty of employment, no
longer possessed the high degree of skill attained by
their predecessors, owing to lack of opportunity to culti
vate it. Sculpture was at a very low ebb when Tiglath-
pileser III. desired to emulate the royal builders of days
gone by, and the awkwardness of composition noticeable
in some of his bas-reliefs, and the almost barbaric style
of the stete erected by persons of even so high a rank
as Belharran-beluzur, prove the lamentable deficiency of
good artists at that epoch, and show that the king had
no choice but to employ all the surviving members of
the ancient guilds, whether good, bad, or indifferent work
men. The increased demand, however, soon produced an

03
C3

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UJ

3

UJ

111

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CQ
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UJ

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i

03

Z

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GREAT ASSYRIAN STELE AT BAVIAX.

Drawn by Boudier, from Layard.

SCENES OF FIGHTING, HUNTING, AND BUILDING 71

adequate supply of workers, and when Sargon ascended
the throne, the royal guild of sculptors had been thoroughly
reconstituted ; the inefficient workmen on whom Tiglath-
pileser and Shalmaneser had been obliged to rely had
been eliminated in course of time, and many of the
sculptures which adorned the palace at Khorsabad display
a purity of design and boldness of execution comparable
to that of the best Egyptian art. The composition still
shows traces of Chaldean stiffness, and the exaggerated
drawing of the muscles produces an occasionally unpleas-
ing heaviness of outline, but none the less the work as
a whole constitutes one of the richest and most ingenious
schemes of decoration ever devised, which, while its colour
ing was still perfect, must have equalled in splendour the
great triumphal battle-scenes at Ibsambul or Medinet-
Habu. Sennacherib found ready to his hand a body of
well-trained artists, whose number had considerably in
creased during the reign of Sargon, and he profited by
the experience which they had acquired and the talent
that many of them had developed." What immediately
strikes the spectator in the series of pictures produced
under his auspices, is the great skill with which his
artists covered the whole surface at their disposal without
overcrowding it. They no longer treated their subject,
whether it were a warlike expedition, a hunting excursion,
a sacrificial scene, or an episode of domestic life, as a
simple juxtaposition of groups of almost equal importance
ranged at the same elevation along the walls, the subject
of each bas-relief being complete in itself and without
any necessary connection with its neighbour. They now

72 SENNACHERIB

selected two or three principal incidents from the subjects
proposed to them for representation, and round these they
grouped such of the less important episodes as lent
themselves best to picturesque treatment, and scattered
sparingly over the rest of the field the minor accessories
which seemed suitable to indicate more precisely the scene
of the action. Under the auspices of this later school,
Assyrian foot-soldiers are no longer depicted attacking
the barbarians of Media or Elam on backgrounds of
smooth stone, where no line marks the various levels,
and ;where the remoter figures appear to be walking in
the air without anything to support them. If the battle
represented took place on a wooded slope crowned by a
stronghold on the summit of the hill, the artist, in order
to give an impression of the surroundings, covered his
background with guilloche patterns by which to represent
the rugged surface of the mountains ; he placed here and
there groups of various kinds of trees, especially the
straight cypresses and firs which grew upon the slopes
of the Iranian table-land : or he represented a body of
lancers galloping in single file along the narrow woodland
paths, and hastening to surprise a distant enemy, or again
foot-soldiers chasing their foes through the forest or
engaging them in single combat ; while in the corners of
the picture the wounded are being stabbed or otherwise
despatched, fugitives are trying to escape through the
undergrowth, and shepherds are pleading with the victors
for their lives. It is the actual scene the sculptor sets
himself to depict, and one is sometimes inclined to ask,
while noting the precision with which the details of the

CAVALRY RAID THROUGH THE WOODS

73

battle are rendered, whether the picture was not drawn
on the spot, and whether the conqueror did not carry
artists in his train to make sketches for the decorators
of the main features of the country traversed and of the
victories won. The masses of infantry seem actually in

AX ASSYRIAN CAVALRY KAID THROUGH THE WOODS. 1

motion, a troop of horsemen rush blindly over uneven
ground, and the episodes of their raid are unfolded in all
their confusion with unfailing animation. For the first
time a spectator can realise Assyrian warfare with its
striking contrasts of bravery and unbridled cruelty ; he is
no longer reduced to spell out laboriously a monotonous

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

SENNACHERIB

narrative of a battle, for the battle takes place actually
before his eyes. And after the return from the scene of

TRANSPORT OF A WINGED

action, when it is desired to show how the victor employed
his prisoners for the greater honour of his gods and his own

THE EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS 75

glory, the picture is no less detailed and realistic. There
we see them, the noble and the great of all the conquered

BULL ON A SLEDGE. 1

nations, Chaldseans and Elaroites, inhabitants of Cilicia,

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layarcl.

76 SENNACHERIB

Phoenicia, and Judaea, harnessed to ropes and goaded by
the whips of the overseers, dragging the colossal bull which
is destined to mount guard at the gates of the palace : with
bodies bent, pendant arms, and faces contorted with pain,
they, who had been the chief men in their cities, now take
the place of beasts of burden, while Sennacherib, erect on
his state chariot, with steady glance and lips compressed,
watches them as they pass slowly before him in their
ignominy and misery.

After the destruction of Babylon there is a pause in the
history of the conqueror, and with him in that of Assyria
itself. It seems as if Nineveh had been exhausted by
the greatness of her effort, and was stopping to take
breath before setting out on a fresh career of conquest :
the other nations also, as if overwhelmed by the magnitude
of the catastrophe, appear to have henceforth despaired
of their own security, and sought only how to avoid
whatever might rouse against them the enmity of the
master of the hour. His empire formed a compact and
solid block in their midst, on which no human force
seemed capable of making any impression. They had
attacked it each in turn, or all at once, Elam in the east,
Urartu in the north, Egypt in the south-west, and their
efforts had not only miserably failed, but had for the most
part drawn down upon them disastrous reprisals. The
people of Urartu remained in gloomy inaction amidst their
mountains, the Elamites had lost their supremacy over
half the Arama3an tribes, and if Egypt was as yet in
accessible beyond the intervening deserts, she owed it
less to the strength of her armies than to the mysterious

AFTER THE TAKING OF BABYLON 77

fatality at Libnah. In one half-century the Assyrians
had effectually and permanently disabled the first of
these kingdoms, and inflicted on the others such serious
injuries that they were slow in recovering from them.
The fate of these proud nations had intimidated the
inferior states Arabs, Medes, tribes of Asia Minor,
barbarous Cimmerians or Scythians, all alike were careful
to repress their natural inclinations to rapine and plunder.
If occasionally their love of booty overpowered their
prudence, and they hazarded a raid on some defenceless
village in the neighbouring border territory, troops were
hastily despatched from the nearest Assyrian garrison,
who speedily drove them back across the frontier, and
pursuing them into their own country, inflicted on them
so severe a punishment that they remained for some
considerable time paralysed by awe and terror. Assyria
was the foremost kingdom of the East, and indeed of the
whole world, and the hegemony which she exercised over
all the countries within her reach cannot be accounted
for solely by her military superiority. Not only did she
excel in the art of conquest, as many before her had done
Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites, and Egyptians but she
did what none of them had been able to accomplish ; she
exacted lasting obedience from the conquered nations,
ruling them with a firm hand, and accustoming them to
live on good terms with one another in spite of diversity
of race, and this with a light rein, with unfailing tact,
and apparently with but little effort. The system of
deportation so resolutely carried out by Tiglath-pileser III.
and Sargon began to produce effect, and up to this time

78 SENNACHERIB

the most happy results only were discernible. The
colonies which had been planted throughout the empire
from Palestine to Media, some of them two generations
previously, others within recent years, were becoming
more and more acclimatised to their new surroundings,
on which they were producing the effect desired by their
conquerors ; they were meant to hold in check the
populations in whose midst they had been set down,
to act as a curb upon them, and also to break up their
national unity and thus gradually prepare them for
absorption into a wider fatherland, in which they would
cease to be exclusively Damascenes, Samaritans, Hittites,
or Aramaeans, since they would become Assyrians and
fellow- citizens of a mighty empire. The provinces, brought
at length under a regular system of government, protected
against external dangers and internal discord by a well-
disciplined soldiery, and enjoying a peace and security
they had rarely known in the days of their independence,
gradually became accustomed to live in concord under
the rule of a common sovereign, and to feel themselves
portions of a single empire. The speech of Assyria was
their official language, the gods of Assyria were associated
with their national gods in the prayers they offered up
for the welfare of the sovereign, and foreign nations with
whom they were brought into communication no longer
distinguished between them and their conquerors, calling
their country Assyria, and regarding its inhabitants as
Assyrians. As is invariably the case, domestic peace and
good administration had caused a sudden development
of wealth and commercial activity. Although Nineveh

DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY 79

and Calah never became such centres of trade and industry
as Babylon bad been, yet tbe presence of the court and
the sovereign attracted thither merchants from all parts
of the world. The Medes, reaching the capital by way
of the passes of Bowandiz and Suleimaniyeh, brought
in the lapis-lazuli, precious stones, metals, and woollen
stuffs of Central Asia and the farthest East, while the
Phoenicians and even Greeks, who
were already following in their foot
steps, came thither to sell in the
bazaars of Assyria the most precious
of the wares brought back by their
merchant vessels from the shores of
the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and
the farthest West. The great cities

. SEXXACHEHIB. 1

ol the triangle of Assyria were gradu
ally supplanting all the capitals of the ancient world, not
excepting Memphis, and becoming the centres of universal
trade ; unexcelled for centuries in the arts of war, Assyria
was in a fair way to become mistress also in the arts of
peace. A Jewish prophet thus described the empire at
a later date : " The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon
with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and
of an high stature ; and his top was among the thick
clouds. The waters nourished him, the deep made him
grow : therefore his stature was exalted above all the
trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and
his branches became long by reason of many waters, when
he shot them forth. All the fowls of the heaven made

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.

80

SENNACHERIB

their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did
all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and
under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus was he
fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for
his root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden
of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like
his boughs, and the plane trees were not as his branches ;
nor was any tree like unto him in beauty : so that all
the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied
him " (Ezek. xxxi. 3-9).

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS
ZENITH. ESARHADDON AND
ASSUR-BANI-PAL

THE MEDES AND CIMMERIANS : LYDIA THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT, OP

ARABIA, AND OP ELAM.

Last years of SennacheribNew races appear upon the scene The Medes :
De iokes and the foundation of Ecbatana, the Bit-Dayaultku and their origin
The races of Asia Minor The Phrygians, their earliest rulers, their conquests,
and their religion Last of the Heraclidse in Lydia, trade and constitution of
their kingdom The Tylonidae and MermnadseThe Cimmerians driven bacJc
into Asia by the Scythians The Treres.

Murder of Sennacherib and accession of Esarhaddon : defeat of Sharezer
(681 B.C.) Campaigns against the Kaldd, the Cimmerians, the tribes of Cilicia,
and against Sidon (680-679 B.C.); Cimmerian and Scythian invasions, revolt of
the Mannai, and expeditions against the Medes ; submission of the northern
Arabs (678-676 B.C.) Egyptian affairs; Taharqa (TirhaJcah), his building
operations, his Syrian policy Disturbances on the frontiers of Elam and
Urartu.

VOL. VIII. .

( 82 )

First invasion of Egypt and subjection of the country to Nineveh (670 B.C.)
Intrigues of rival claimants to the throne, and division of the Assyrian empire
betiveen Assur-bani-pal and Shamash-shwnuliin (668 E.G.*) Revolt of Egijpt
and death of Esarhaddon (668 B.C.) ; accession of Assur-bani-pal ; his campaign
against KirbU ; defeat of Taharqa and reconstitution of the Egyptian province
(667 B.C.) Affairs of Asia Minor: Gyges (693 B.C.), his icars against the
Greclcs and Cimmerians ; he sends ambassadors to Nineveh (664 B.C.).

Tanuat am anu reasserts the authority of Ethiopia in Egypt (664 B.C.), and
Tammaritu of Elam invades Karduniash ; rcconquest of the Said and saclc of
Thebes Psammetichus I. and the rise of the XXVI th dynasty Disturbances
among the Medes and Mannai War against Teummdn and the victory of Tulliz
(660 B.C.) : Elam yields to the Assyrians for the first timeShamash-shumuJcin
at Babylon ; is at first on good terms with his brother, then becomes dissatisfied,
and forms a coalition against the Ninevite supremacy.

The Urulc incident and outbrealc of the war between Karduniash, Elam, and
Assyria ; Elam disabled by domestic discords Siege and capture of Babylon ;
Assur-bani-pal ascends the throne under the name of Kandalanu (648-646 B.C.)

Eevolt of Egypt : defeat and death of Gyges (642 B.C. ) : Ardtjs drives out the

Cimmerians and Dugdamis is killed in Cilicia Submission of Arabia.

Revolution in Elam Attach on Indabigash Tammaritu restored to power-
Pillage and destruction of Susa Campaign against the Arabs of Kedar and the
Nabatacans : suppression of the Tyrian rebellion Dijing struggles of Elam-
Capture of Madalctu and surrender of Khumbdn-Jchaldash The power of Assyria
reaches its zenith.

- *_.

ONE OF THE EGYPTIAN IVORIES FOUND IN ASSYKIA. 1

CHAPTER II

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH.
ESARHADDON AND ASSUR-BANI-PAL

The Mecles and Cimmerians : Lydia The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia,

and of Elam.

*

A S we have already seen, Sennacherib
reigned for eight years after his triumph ;
eight years of tranquillity at home, and of
peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we
examine the contemporary monuments or
the documents of a later period, and
attempt to glean from them some
details concerning the close of his
career, we find that there is a complete
absence of any record of national
movement on the part of either

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after La yard. The vignette, also by Faucher-
Gudin, represents Taharqa in a kneeling attitude, and is taken from a bronze
statuette in the Macgregor collection.

84 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Elam, Urartu, or Egypt. The only event of which
any definite mention is made is a raid across the
north of Arabia, in the course of which Hazael, King
of Adumu, and chief among the princes of Kedar, was
despoiled of the images of his gods. The older states
of the Oriental world had, as we have pointed out, grown
weary of warfare which brought them nothing but loss
of men and treasure; but behind these states, on the
distant horizon to the east and north-west, were rising
up new nations whose growth and erratic movements
assumed an importance that became daily more and more
alarming. On the east, the Medes, till lately undis-
tiuguishable from the other tribes occupying the western
corner of the Iranian table-land, had recently broken away
from the main body, and, rallying round a single leader,
already gave promise of establishing an empire formidable
alike by the energy of its people and the extent of its
domain. A tradition afterwards accepted by them attributed
their earlier successes to a certain Deiokes, son of Phraortes,
a man wiser than his fellows, who first set himself to deal
out justice in his own household. The men of his village,
observing his merits, chose him to be the arbiter of all
their disputes, and, being secretly ambitious of sovereign
power, he did his best to settle their differences on lines
of the strictest equity and justice. "By these means he
gained such credit with his fellow-citizens as to attract
the attention of those who lived in the neighbouring
villages, who had suffered from unjust judgments, so that
when they heard of the singular uprightness of Deiokes
and of the equity of his decisions they joyfully had recourse

DEIOKES AND THE FOUNDATION OP ECBATANA 85

to him until at last they carne to put confidence in no
one else. The number of complaints brought before him
continually increasing as people learnt more and more the
justice of his judgments, Deiokes, finding himself now
all-important, announced that he did not intend any longer
to hear causes, and appeared no more in the seat in which
he had been accustomed to sit and administer justice.
It was not to his advantage, he said, to spend the whole
day in regulating other men s affairs to the neglect of his
own. Hereupon robbery and lawlessness broke out afresh
and prevailed throughout the country even more than
heretofore ; wherefore the Medes assembled from all
quarters and held a consultation on the state of affairs.
The speakers, as I think, were chiefly friends of Deiokes.
We cannot possibly, they said, go on living in this
country if things continue as they now are ; let us,
therefore, set a king over us, so that the land may be well
governed, and we ourselves may be able to attend to our
own affairs, and not be forced to quit our country on
account of anarchy. After speaking thus, they persuaded
themselves that they desired a king, and forthwith debated
whom they should choose. Deiokes was proposed and
warmly praised by all, so they agreed to elect him."
Whereupon Deiokes had a great palace built, and enrolled
a bodyguard to attend upon him. He next called upon
his subjects to leave their villages, and " the Medes,
obedient to his orders, built the city now called Agbatana,
the walls of which are of great size and strength, rising
in circles one within the other. The walls are concentric,
and so arranged that they rise one above the other by the

86 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

height of their battlements. The nature of the ground,
which is a gentle hill, favoured this arrangement. The
numher of the circles is seven, the royal palace and the
treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the
outer wall is very nearly the same as that of Athens. Of
this wall the battlements are white, of the next black,
of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth orange.
The two last have their battlements coated respectively
with silver and gold. All these fortifications Dei okes
caused to be raised for himself and his own palace ; the
people he required to dwell outside the citadel. When
the town was finished, he established a rule that no one
should have direct access to the king, but that all
communications should pass through the hands of
messengers. It was declared to be unseemly for any one
to see the king face to face, or to laugh or spit in his
presence. This ceremonial Dei okes established for his own
security, fearing lest his compeers who had been brought
up with him, and were of as good family and parts as he,
should be vexed at the sight of him and conspire against
him : he thought that by rendering himself invisible to his
vassals they would in time come to regard him as quite a
different sort of being from themselves."

Two or three facts stand out from this legendary back
ground. It is probable that Dei okes was an actual person ;
that the empire of the Medes first took shape under his
auspices ; that he formed an important kingdom at the foot
of Mount Elvend, and founded Ecbatana the Great, or, at
at any rate, helped to raise it to the rank of a capital. 1 Its

1 The existence of Dei okes has been called in question by Grote and by

THE REIGN OF DE1OKES

87

site was happily chosen, iii a rich and fertile valley, close
to where the roads emerge which cross the Zagros chain of
mountains and connect Iran with the valleys of the Tigris
and Euphrates, almost on the border of the salt desert
which forms and renders sterile the central regions of the
plateau, Mount Elvend shelters it, and feeds with its
snows the streams that irrigate it, whose waters transform
the whole country round into one vast orchard. The
modern town has, as it were, swallowed up all traces of its

3?*pp;r .^zagKE^i

STONE LIOX AT HAM AD AN.

predecessor ; a stone lion, overthrown and mutilated, marks
the site of the royal palace. The chronological reckoning
of the native annalists, as handed down to us by Herodotus,
credits De iokes with a reign of fifty-three years, which
occupied almost the whole of the first half of the seventh
century, i.e. from 709 to 656, or from 700 to 647 B.C. 2 The

the Rawlinsons. Most recent historians, however, accept the story of this
personage as true in its main facts ; some believe him to have been merely
the ancestor of the royal house which later on founded the united kingdom
of the Medes.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Flandin and Coste.

1 Herodotus expressly attributes a reign of fifty-three years to his
Dei okes, and the total of a hundred and fifty years which we obtain by
adding together the number of years assigned by him to the four Median

88

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

records of Nineveh mention a certain Dayaukku who was
governor of the Mannai, and an ally of the Assyrians in
the days of Sargon, and was afterwards deported with his
family to Hamath in 715; two years later reference is

~

-

VIEW OF IIAMADAN AND MOUNT ELVEND IN WINTER. 1

made to an expedition across the territory of Bit-Dayaukkn,
which is described as lying between Ellipi and Karaite,

kings (53 + 22 + 40 + 35) brings us back to 709-708, if we admit as he
doet, that the year of the proclamation by Cyrus as King o Persia
(559-558) was that in which Astyages was overthrown ; we get 70
the date of Deiokes accession, if we separate the two facts, as the .en
compel us to do, and reckon the hundred and fifty years of the Media,
empire from the fall of Astyages in 550-549.

i Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. de Morgan.

THE MEDES AND THEIR ORIGIN 89

thus corresponding to the modern province of Hamadan.
It is quite within the bounds of possibility that the Day-
aukku who gave his name to this district was identical
with the Deiokes of later writers. 1 He was the official
ancestor of a royal house, a fact proved by the way in
which his conqueror uses the name to distinguish the
country over which he had ruled ; moreover, the epoch
assigned to him by contemporary chroniclers coincides
closely enough with that indicated by tradition in the case
of Deiokes. He was never the august sovereign that
posterity afterwards made him out to be, and his territory
included barely half of what constituted the province of
Media in classical times ; he contrived, however and it
was this that gained him universal renown in later days-
to create a central rallyiug-point for the Median tribes
around which they henceforth grouped themselves. The
work of concentration was merely in its initial stage during
the lifetime of Sennacherib, and little or nothing was felt
of its effects outside its immediate area of influence, but the
pacific character ascribed to the worthy Deiokes by popular
legends, is to a certain extent confirmed by the testimony
of the monuments : they record only one expedition, in
702, against Ellipi and the neighbouring tribes, in the
course of which some portions of the newly acquired
territory were annexed to the province of Kharkhar, and
after mentioning this the annals have nothing further to

The form Deiokes, in place of Daiokes, is due to the Ionic dialect
employed by Herodotus. Justi regards the name as an abbreviated form
of the ancient Persian Dahyaupati = "the master of a province," with the
suffix -ka.

90 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

relate during the rest of the reign. Sennacherib was too
much taken up with his retaliatory measures against
Babylon, or his disputes with Elam, to think of venturing
on expeditions such as those which had brought Tiglath-
pileser III. or Sargon within sight of Mount Bikni ; while
the Medes, on their part, had suffered so many reverses
under these two monarchs that they probably thought
twice before attacking any of the outposts scattered along
the Assyrian frontier : nothing occurred to disturb their
tranquillity during the early years of the seventh century,
and this peaceful interval probably enabled Dei okes to
consolidate, if not to extend, his growing authority. Bat
if matters were quiet, at all events on the surface, in this
direction, the nations on the north and north-west had for
some time past begun to adopt a more threatening attitude.
That migration of races between Europe and Asia, which
had been in such active progress about the middle of the
second millennium before our era, had increased twofold in
intensity after the rise of the XX th Egyptian dynasty, and
from thenceforward a wave of new races had gradually
spread over the whole of Asia Minor, and had either driven
the older peoples into the less fertile or more inaccessible
districts, or else had overrun and absorbed them. Many
of the nations that had fought against Ramses II. and
Eamses III., such as the Uashasha, the Shagalasha, the
Zakkali, the Danauna, and the Tursha, had disappeared,
but the Thracians, whose appearance on the scene caused
such consternation in days gone by, had taken root in the
very heart of the peninsula, and had, in the course of three
or four generations, succeeded in establishing a thriving

THE PHRYGIANS AND THEIR EARLIEST RULERS 93

state. The legend which traced the descent of the royal
line back to the fabulous hero Ascanius proves that at the
outset the haughty tribe of the Ascanians must have taken
precedence over their fellows ; * it soon degenerated, how
ever, and before long the Phrygian tribe gained the upper
hand and gave its name to the whole nation. Phrygia
proper, the country first colonised by them, lay between
Mount Dindymus and the river Halys, in the valley of the
Upper Sangarios and its affluents : it was there that the
towns and strongholds of their most venerated leaders, such
as Midaion, Dorylaion, Gordiaion, Tataion, and many others
stood close together, perpetuating the memory of Midas,
Dorylas, Gordios, and Tatas. Its climate was severe and
liable to great extremes of temperature, being bitterly cold
in winter and almost tropical during the summer months ;
forests of oak and pine, however, and fields of corn
flourished, while the mountain slopes favoured the growth
of the vine ; it was, in short, an excellent and fertile
country, well fitted for the development of a nation of vine
dressers and tillers of the soil. The slaying of an ox or
the destruction of an agricultural implement was punish
able by death, and legend relates that Gordios, the first
Phrygian king, was a peasant by birth. His sole patrimony
consisted of a single pair of oxen, and the waggon used by

1 The name of this tribe was retained by a district afterwards included
in the province of Bithynia, viz. Ascania, on the shores of the Ascanian lake :
the distribution of place and personal names over the face of the country
makes it seem extremely probable that Ascania and the early Ascanians
occupied the whole of the region bounded on the north by the Propontis ; in
other words, the very country in which, according to Xanthus of Lydia, the
Phrygians first established themselves after their arrival in Asia.

94 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

him in bringing home his sheaves after the harvest was
afterwards placed as an offering in the temple of Cybele at
Ancyra by his son Midas ; there was a local tradition
according to which the welfare of all Asia depended on the
knot which bound the yoke to the pole being preserved
intact. Midas did not imitate his father s simple habits,
and the poets, after crediting him with fabulous wealth,
tried also to make out that he was a conqueror. The
kingdom expanded in all directions, and soon included the
upper valley of the Mseander, with its primeval sanctuaries,
Kydrara, ColossaB, and Kylaenae, founded wherever exhala
tions of steam and boiling springs betrayed the presence of
some supernatural power. The southern shores of the
Hellespont, which formed part of the Troad, and was the
former territory of the Ascania, belonged to it, as did also
the majority of the peoples scattered along the coast of the
Euxine between the mouth of the Sangarios and that of
the Halys ; those portions of the central steppe which
border on Lake Tatta were also for a time subject to it,
Lydia was under its influence, and it is no exaggeration to
say that in the tenth and eleventh centuries before our era
there was a regular Phrygian empire which held sway,
almost without a rival, over the western half of Asia
Minor.

It has left behind it so few relics of its existence, that
we can only guess at what it must have been in the days of
its prosperity. Three or four ruined fortresses, a few
votive stelse, and a dozen bas-reliefs cut on the faces of
cliffs in a style which at first recalls the Hittite and Asianic
carvings of the preceding age, and afterwards, as we come

MONUMENT COMMEMORATIVE OF MIDAS

95

down to later times, betrays the influence of early Greek
art. In the midst of one of their cemeteries we come upon
a monument resembling the facade of a house or temple cut
out of the virgin rock ; it consists of a low triangular

MONUMENT COMMEMORATIVE OF MIDAS. 1

pediment, surmounted by a double scroll, then a rectangle
of greater length than height, framed between two pilasters
and a horizontal string-course, the centre being decorated
with a geometrical design of crosses in a way which
suggests the pattern of a carpet ; a recess is hollowed out
on a level with the ground, and filled by a blind door with

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a plate in Per rot and Chipiez.

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

rebated doorposts. Is it a tomb ? The inscription care
fully engraved above one side of the pediment contains the
name of Midas, and seems to show that we have before us
a commemorative monument, piously dedicated by a certain
Ates in honour of the Phrygian hero. Elsewhere we come

upon the outlines of a
draped female form,
sometimes alone, some
times accompanied by
two lions, or of a man
clothed in a short tunic,
holding a sort of straight
sceptre in his hand, and
we fancy that we have
the image of a god before
our eyes, though we
cannot say which of the
deities handed down by
tradition it may repre
sent. The religion of the
Phrygians is shrouded in
A PHRYGIAN coo. 1 ^ e same mystery as their

civilisation and their art, and presents a curious mixture of
European and Asianic elements. The old aboriginal races
had worshipped from time immemorial a certain mother-
goddess, Ma, or Amma, the black earth, which brings forth
without ceasing, and nourishes all living things. Her
central place of worship seems, originally, to have been in
the region of the Anti-taurus, and it was there that her

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Ramsay.

PHRYGIAN BELIEFS AND MONUMENTS

97

sacred cities Tyana, Venasa, and the Cappadocian Comana
were to be found as late as Eoman times ; in these towns
her priests were regarded as kings, and thousands of her
priestesses spent lives of prostitution in her service ; but
her sanctuaries, with their special rites and regulations,
were scattered over the whole peninsula. She was some
times worshipped
under the form of
a meteoric stone, or
betyle similar to
those found in Ca
naan ; l more fre
quently she was
represented in fe
male shape, with
attendant lions, or
placed erect on a
lion in the attitude
of walking. A moon-
god, Men, shared
divine honours with
her, and with a
goddess Nana whose son Atys had been the only love
of Ma and the victim of her passion. We are told that
she compelled him to emasculate himself in a fit of mad

THE MOTHER-GODDESS BETWEEN LIONS.-

E.g. at Mount Dindymus and at Pessinus, which latter place was
supposed to possess the oldest sanctuary of Cybele. The Pessinus stone,
which was carried off to Rome in 204 B.C., was small, irregular in shape, and
of a dark colour. Another stone represented Ida.

! Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Ramsay.

VOL. VIII.

98

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

delirium, and then transformed him into a pine tree : thence
forward her priests made the sacrifice of their virility with
their own hands at the moment of dedicating themselves to

the service of the
goddess. 1 The gods
introduced from
Thrace by the Phry
gians showed a close
affinity with those
of the purely Asianic
peoples. Precedence
was universally given
to a celestial divinity
named Bagaios, Lord
of the Oak, perhaps
because he was wor
shipped under a
gigantic sacred oak ;
he was king of gods
and men, their
father, 2 lord of the
thunder and the
lightning, the warrior who charges in his chariot. He,

1 Nana was made out to be the daughter of the river Sangarios. She is
said to have conceived Atys by placing in her bosom the fruit of an almond
tree which sprang from the hermaphrodite Agdistis. This was the form-
extremely ancient in its main features -in which the legend was preserved
at Pessinus.

2 In this capacity he bore the surname Papas.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Chantre. One of the
bas-reliefs at lasilikiaia, to which we shall have occasion to refer later on in
Chapter III. of the present volume.

THE MOl llW-UODUESS AKD ATYS."

THE PHRYGIAN GODS

99

doubtless, allowed a queen-regent of the earth to share
his throne, 1 but Sauazios, another, and, at first, less
venerable deity had thrown this august pair into the
shade. The Greeks, finding this Sauazios at the head

-

THE GOD MEX ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUN AXD OTHER DEITIES.-

of the Phrygian Pantheon, identified him with their
Zeus, or, less frequently, with the Sun ; he was really

1 The existence of such a goddess may be deduced from the passage in
which Dionysius of Halicarnassus states that Manes, first king of the
Phrygians, was the son of Zeus and Demeter.

! Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Perdrizet. The last
figure on the left is the god Men ; the Sun overlooks all the rest, and a god
bearing an axe occupies the extreme right of the picture. The shapes of
these ancient aboriginal deities have been modified by the influence of Grasco-
Roman syncretism, and I merely give these figures, as I do many others, for
lack of better representations.

100 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

a variant of their Dionysos. He became torpid in the
autumn, and slept a death-like sleep all through the
winter ; but no sooner did he feel the warmth of the first
breath of spring, than he again awoke, glowing with youth,
and revelled during his summer in the heart of the forest
or on the mountain-side, leading a life of riot and intoxica
tion, guarded by a band of Sauades, spirits of the springs
and streams, the Sileni of Greek mythology. The re
semblances detected by the new-comers between the orgies
of Thrace and those of Asia quickly led to confusion
between the different dogmas and divinities. The
Phrygians adopted Ma, and made her their queen, the
Cybele who dwells in the hills, and takes her title from the
mountain-tops which she inhabits Dindymene on Mount
Dindymus, Sipylgne on Mount Sipylus. She is always the
earth, but the earth untilled, and is seated in the midst of
lions, or borne through her domain in a car drawn
by lions, accompanied by a troop of Corybantes
with dishevelled locks. Sauazios, identified with the
Asianic Atys, became her lover and her priest, and
Men, transformed by popular etymology into Manes,
the good and beautiful, was looked upon as the giver of
good luck, who protects men after death as well as in life.
This religion, evolved from so many diverse elements,
possessed a character of sombre poetry and sensual
fanaticism which appealed strongly to the Greek imagina
tion : they quickly adopted even its most barbarous
mysteries, those celebrated in honour of the goddess and
Atys, or of Sauazios. They tell us but little of the inner
significance of the symbols and doctrines taught by its

THE KINGDOM OF LYDIA 101

votaries, but have frequently described its outward
manifestations. These consisted of aimless wanderings
through the forests, in which the priest, incarnate
representative of his god, led after him the ministers of the
temple, who were identified with the Sauades and nymphs
of the heavenly host. Men heard them passing in the
night, heralded by the piercing notes of the flute provoking
to frenzy, and by the clash of brazen cymbals, accompanied
by the din of uproarious ecstasy : these sounds were broken
at intervals by the bellowing of bulls and the roll of drums,
like the rumbling of subterranean
thunder.

A Midas followed a Gordios, and a
Gordios a Midas, in alternate succession,
and under their rule the Phrygian empire
enjoyed a period of prosperous obscurity.
Lydia led an uneventful existence be-

MIDAS OF PHKYGIA. 1

side them, under dynasties which have
received merely passing notice at the hands of the Greek
chroniclers. They credit it at the outset with the al
most fabulous royal line of the Atyada3, in one of whose
reigns the Tyrseni are said to have migrated into Italy.
Towards the twelfth century the Atyadae were supplanted
by a family of Heraclidaa, who traced their descent to a
certain Agron, whose personality is only a degree less
mythical than his ancestry ; he was descended from
Heracles through Ale-sens, Belus, and Ninus. Whether

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a specimen, in the Cabinet des Medailles.
It is a bronze coin from Prymnessos in Phrygia, belonging to the imperial
epoch.

102 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

these last two names point to intercourse with one or other
of the courts on the banks of the Euphrates, it is difficult
to say. Twenty-one Heraclidae, each one the son of his
predecessor, are said to have followed Agron on the
throne, their combined reigns giving a total of five
hundred years. 1 Most of these princes, whether Atyadas
or HeraclidsB, have for us not even a shadowy existence,
and what we know of the remainder is of a purely
fabulous nature. For instance, Kambles is reported to
have possessed such a monstrous appetite, that he de
voured his own wife one night, while asleep. 2 The
concubine of Meles, again, is said to have brought
forth a lion, and the oracle of Telmessos predicted that the
town of Sardes would be rendered impregnable if the animal
were led round the city walls ; this was done, except on the
side of the citadel facing Mount Trnolus, which was con
sidered unapproachable, but it was by that very path that
the Persians subsequently entered the town. Alkimos, we
are told, accumulated immense treasures, and under his rule
his subjects enjoyed unequalled prosperity for fourteen

1 The number is a purely conventional one, and Gutschmid has shown
how it originated. The computation at first comprised the complete series
of 22 Heraclidte and 5 Mermnadae, estimated reasonably at 4 kings to a
century, i.e. 27 X 25 = 675 years, from the taking of Sardes to the supposed
accession of Agron. As it was known from other sources that the 5 Merm-
nadse had reigned 170 years, these were subtracted from the 675, to obtain
the duration of the Heraclidse alone, and by this means were obtained the
505 years mentioned by Herodotus.

2 Another version, related by Nicolas of Damascus, refers the story to
the time of lardanos, a contemporary of Hercules ; it shows that the Lyclian
chronographers considered Kambles or Kamblitas as being one of the last of
the Atyad kings.

THE KINGDOM OF LYDIA 103

years. It is possible that the story of the expedition
despatched into Palestine by a certain Akiamos, which
ended in the foundation of Ascalon, is merely a feeble
echo of the raids in Syrian and Egyptian waters made by
the Tyrseni and Sardinians in the thirteenth century B.C.
The spread of the Phrygians, and the subsequent progress
of Greek colonisation, must have curtailed the possessions
of the Heraclida3 from the eleventh to the ninth centuries,
but the material condition of the people does not appear to
have suffered by this diminution of territory. When they
had once firmly planted themselves in the ports along the
Asianic littoral at Kyme, at Phocsea, at Smyrna, at
Clazornena3, at Colophon, at Ephesus, at Magnesia, at
Miletus the ^Eolians and the lonians lost no time in
reaping the advantages which this position, at the western
extremities of the great high-road through Asia Minor,
secured to them. They overran all the Lydian settlements
in Phrygia Sardes, Leontocephalos, Pessinus, Gordiaeon,
and Ancyra. The steep banks and the tortuous course of
the Halys failed to arrest them ; and they pushed forward
beyond the mysterious regions peopled by the White
Syrians, where the ancient civilisation of Asia Minor still
held its sway. The search for precious metals mainly
drew them on the gold and silver, the copper, bronze, and
above all iron, which the Chalybes found in their
mountains, and which were conveyed by caravans from
the regions of the Caucasus to the sacred towns of Teiria
and Pteria. 1 The friendly relations into which they

1 The site of Pteria has been fixed at Boghaz-keui by Texier, an identi
fication which has been generally adopted ; Euyuk is very probably Teiria, a

104

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

entered with the natives on these journeys resulted before
long in barter and intermarriage, though their influence
made itself felt in different ways, according to the character
of the people on whom it was brought to bear. They gave
as a legacy to Phrygia one of their alphabets, that of Kyme,

THE STEEP BANKS OF THE HALTS FAILED TO ARKEST THEM. 1

which soon banished the old Hittite syllabary from the
monuments, and they borrowed in exchange Phrygian
customs, musical instruments, traditions, and religious

town of the Leucosyrians, mentioned by Hecatceus of Miletus in his
work.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by A. Boissier. The
road leading from Angora to Yuzgat crosses the river not far from the site
shown here, near the spot where the ancient road crossed.

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE LYDIAN KINGDOM 105

orgies. A Midas sought in marriage Hermodike, the
daughter of Agamemnon the Kymaean, while another
Midas, who had consulted the oracle of Delphi, presented
to the god the chryselephantine throne on which he was
wont to sit when he dispensed justice. This interchange

--?. ~~ -"_ "r* .is**! Z -^ " - - ." ^

- . ri --^fvv?---> -?-* ^.-^^-^-^sF^ ^l

W&?^& M "^^i-.-^

VIEW OVER THE PLAIN* OF SARDES. 1

of amenities and these alliances, however, had a merely
superficial effect, and in no way modified the temperament
and life of the people in inner Asia Minor. They remained
a robust, hardworking race, attached to their fields and
woods, loutish and slow of understanding, unskilled in war,
and not apt in defending themselves in spite of their
natural bravery. The Lydians, on the contrary, submitted
readily to foreign influence, and the Greek leaven introduced

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

106

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

among them became the germ of a new civilisation, which
occupied an intermediate place between that of the Greek
and that of the Oriental world. About the first half of the
eighth century B.C. the Lydians had become organised into
a confederation of several tribes, governed by hereditary
chiefs, who were again in their turn subject to the
Heraclidaa occupying Sardes. 1 This town rose in terraces
on the lower slopes of a detached spur of the Tmolus
running in the direction of the Hermos, and was crowned
by the citadel, within which were included the royal palace,

the treasury, and the arsenals. It was
surrounded by an immense plain,
bounded on the south by a curve of
the Tmolus, and on the west by the
distant mountains of Phrygia Katake-
kaumene. The Mseonians still claimed
primacy over the entire race, and the
reigning family was chosen from among
their nobles. The king, who was
supposed to be descended from the gods, bore, as the
insignia of his rank, a double-headed axe, the emblem of
his divine ancestors. The Greeks of later times said that
the axe was that of their Heracles, which was wrested by
him from the Amazon Hippolyta, and given to Omphale. 3

1 Gelzer was the first, to my knowledge, to state that Lydia was a
feudal state, and he defined its constitution. Radet refuses to recognise it
as feudal in the true sense of the term, and he prefers to see in it a con
federation of states under the authority of a single prince.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a coin in the Cabinet des Medailles.

3 Gelzer sees in the legend about the axe related by Plutarch, a
reminiscence of a primitive gynocracy. The axe is the emblem of the god

THE AXE BOKXE BY ZEUS
IABRAUNDOS. 2

IMPORTANCE OF THE COUNTRY MAGNATES 107

The king was the supreme head of the priesthood, as also of
the vassal chiefs and of the army, but he had as a subordi
nate a " companion" who could replace him when occasion
demanded, and he was assisted in the exercise of his
functions by the counsel of " Friends," and further still in
extraordinary circumstances by the citizens of the capital
assembled in the public square. This intervention of the
voice of the populace was a thing unknown in the East,
and had probably been introduced in imitation of customs
observed among the Greeks of .ZEolia or Ionia ; it was an
important political factor, and might possibly lead to an
outbreak or a revolution. Outside the pale of Sardes and
the province of Maeonia, the bulk of Lydian territory was
distributed among a very numerous body of landowners,
who were particularly proud of their noble descent. Many
of these country magnates held extensive fiefs, and had in
their pay small armies, which rendered them almost inde
pendent, and the only way for the sovereign to succeed in
ruling them was to conciliate them at all hazards, and to
keep them in perpetual enmity with their fellows. Two of
these rival families vied with each other in their efforts to
secure the royal favour ; that of the Tylonida3 and that of

the Mermnada3, the principal domain of which latter lay at

Teira, in the valley of the Cayster, though they had also
other possessions at Dascylion, in Hellespontine Phrygia.
The head sometimes of one and sometimes of the other
family would fill that post of " companion " which placed all
the resources of the kingdom at the disposal of the occupant.

of war, and, as such, belongs to the king : the coins of Mylasa exhibit it
held by Zeus Labraunclos.

108 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

The first of the Mermnadas of whom we get a glimpse
is Daskylos, son of Gyges, who about the year 740 was
"companion 5 during the declining years of Ardys, over
whom he exercised such influence that Adyattes, the heir
to the throne, took umbrage at it, and caused him to be
secretly assassinated, whereupon his widow, fearing for
her own safety, hastily fled into Phrygia, of which district
she was a native. On hearing of the crime, Ardys,
trembling with anger, convoked the Assembly, and as
his advanced age rendered walking difficult, he caused
himself to be carried to the public square in a litter.
Having reached the place, he laid the assassins under a
curse, and gave permission to any who could find them
to kill them ; he then returned to his palace, where he
died a few years later, about 730 B.C. Adyattes took the
name of Meles on ascending the throne, and at first
reigned happily, but his father s curse weighed upon him,
and before long began to take effect. Lydia having been
laid waste by a famine, the oracle declared that, before
appeasing the gods, the king must expiate the murder
of the Mermnad noble, by making every atonement in his
power, if need be by an exile of three years duration.
Meles submitted to the divine decree. He sought out the
widow of his victim, and learning that during her flight
she had given birth to a son, called, like his father,
Daskylos, he sent to entreat the young man to repair
immediately to Sardes, that he might make amends for
the murder; the youth, however, alleged that he was as
yet unborn at the hour of his father s death, and therefore
not entitled to be a party to an arrangement which did

THE HERACLID^: AND THE MERMNAD^E 109

not personally affect him, and refused to return to his own
country. Having failed in this attempt, Meles entrusted
the regency of his kingdom to Sadyattes, son of Kadys,
one of the Tylonidas, who prohably had already filled the
post of companion to the king for some time past, and
set out for Babylon. When the three years had elapsed,
Sadyattes faithfully handed over to him the reins of
government and resumed the second place. Myrsos
succeeded Meles about 716, 1 and his accession immediately
became the cause of uneasiness to the younger Daskylos,
who felt that he was no longer safe from the intrigues
of the Heraclidae ; he therefore quitted Phrygia and settled
beyond the Halys among the White Syrians, one of whom
he took in marriage, and had by her a son, whom he
called G-yges, after his ancestor. The Lydian chronicles
which have come down to us make no mention of him,
after the birth of this child, for nearly a quarter of a
century. We know, however, from other sources, that
the country in which he took refuge had for some time
past been ravaged by enemies coming from the Caucasus,
known to us as the Cimmerians. 2 Previous to this period

1 The lists of Eusebius give 36 years to Ardys, 14 years to Meles or
Adyattes, 1 2 years to Myrsos, and 1 7 years to Candaules ; that is to say, if
we place the accession of Gyges in 687, the dates of the reign of Candaules
are 704-687, of that of Mysros 716-704, of that of Meles 730-716, of that of
Ardys I. 766-730. Gelzer thinks that the double names each represent a
different king ; Radet adheres to the four generations of Eusebius.

2 I would gladly have treated at length the subject of the Cimmerians
with its accompanying developments, but lack of space prevents me from
doing more than summing up here the position I have taken. Most modern
critics have rejected that part of the tradition preserved by Herodotus which
refers to the itinerary of the Cimmerians, and have confused the Cimmerian

110

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

A CONFLICT WITH TWO GRIFFINS.

these had been an almost mythical race in the eyes of
the civilised races of the Oriental world. They imagined
them, as living in a perpetual mist on the confines of the
universe : " Never does bright Helios look upon them
with his rays, neither when he rises towards the starry
heaven, nor when he turns back from heaven towards the

earth, but a baleful
night spreads itself
over these miserable
mortals." 1 Fabu
lous animals, such
as griffins with
lions bodies, hav
ing the neck and
ears of a fox, and
the wings and beak of an eagle, wandered over their plains,
and sometimes attacked them ; the inhabitants were forced

invasion with that of the Thracian tribes. I think that there is reason to
give weight to Herodotus statement, and to distinguish carefully between
two series of events : (1) a movement of peoples coming from Europe into
Asia, by the routes that Herodotus indicates, about the latter half of the
eighth century B.C., who would be more especially the Cimmerians ; (2) a
movement of peoples coming from Europe into Asia by the Thracian
Bosphorus, and among whom there was perhaps, side by side with the Treres,
a remnant of Cimmerian tribes who had been ousted by the Scythians. The
two streams would have had their confluence in the heart of Asia Minor,
in the first half of the seventh century.

1 Odyssey, xi. 14-19. It is this passage which Ephorus applies to the
Cimmerians of his own time who were established in the Crimea, and which
accounts for his saying that they were a race of miners, living perpetually
underground.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the reliefs on the crown of the

Great Blinitza.

THE CIMMERIANS AND THE TRERES IN ASIA 111

to defend themselves with axes, and did not always emerge
victorious from these terrible conflicts. The few merchants
who had ventured to penetrate into their country had
returned from their travels with less fanciful notions
concerning the nature of the regions frequented by them,
but little continued to be known of them, until an un-

SCYTHIANS AHMED FOli AVAIL 1

foreseen occurrence obliged them to quit their remote
steppes. The Scythians, driven from the plains of the
laxartes by an influx of the Massagetae, were urged for
wards in a westerly direction beyond the Volga and the
Don, and so great was the terror inspired by the mere
report of their approach, that the Cimmerians decided
to quit their own territory. A tradition current in Asia
three centuries later, told how their kings had counselled
them to make a stand against the invaders ; the people,
however, having refused to listen to their advice, their
rulers and those who were loyal to them fell by each
other s hands, and their burial-place was still shown near
the banks of the Tyras. Some of their tribes took refuge

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the reliefs on the silver vase of Kul-

Oba.

112 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

in the Chersonesus Taurica, but the greater number pushed
forward beyond the Masotic marshes ; a body of Scythians
followed in their track, and the united horde pressed
onwards till they entered Asia Minor, keeping to the
shores of the Black Sea. 1 This heterogeneous mass of
people came into conflict first with Urartu ; then turn
ing obliquely in a south-easterly direction, their advance-
guard fell upon the Mannai. But they were repulsed by
Sargon s generals ; the check thus administered forced
them to fall back speedily upon other countries less
vigorously defended. The Scythians, therefore, settled
themselves in the eastern basin of the Araxes, on the
frontiers of Urartu and the Mannai, where they formed
themselves into a kind of marauding community, per
petually quarrelling with their neighbours. 2 The Cim
merians took their way westwards, and established
themselves upon the upper waters of the Araxes, the
Euphrates, the Halys, and the Thermodon, 3 greatly to

1 The version of Aristseas of Proconnesus, as given by Herodotus and
by Damastes of Sigsea, attributes a more complex origin to this migration, i.e.
that the Arimaspes had driven the Issedonians before them, and that the
latter had in turn driven the Scythians back on the Cimmerians.

2 The Scythians of the tradition preserved by Herodotus must have been
the Ashguzai or Ishkuzai of the cuneiform documents. The original name
must have been Skuza, Shkuza, with a sound in the second syllable that the
Greeks have rendered by tJi, and the Assyrians by z : the initial vowel has
been added, according to a well-known rule, to facilitate the pronunciation
of the combination SK, SHK. An oracle of the time of Esarhaddon shows
that they occupied one of the districts really belonging to the Mannai : and
it is probably they who are mentioned in a passage of Jer. li. 27, where the
traditional reading Ashchenaz should be replaced by that of Ashkuz.

3 It is doubtless to these events that the tradition preserved by Pompeius
Trogus, which is known to us through his abbreviator Justin, or through

RESULTS OF THE SCYTHIAN INVASION 113

the vexation of the rulers of Urartu. They subsequently
felt their way along the valleys of the Anti-Taurus, but
finding them held by Assyrian troops, they turned their
steps towards the country of the White Syrians, seized
Sinope, where the Greeks had recently founded a colony,
and bore down upon Phrygia. It would appear that they
were joined in these regions by other hordes from Thrace
which had crossed the Bosphorus a few years earlier, and
among whom the ancient historians particularly make
mention of the Treres ; l the results of the Scythian in
vasion had probably been felt by all the tribes on the
banks of the Dnieper, and had been the means of forcing
them in the direction of the Danube and the Balkans,
whence they drove before them, as they went, the in
habitants of the Thracian peninsula across into Asia Minor.
It was about the year 750 B.C. that the Cimmerians had
been forced to quit their first home, and towards 720 that
they came into contact with the empires of the East ;
the Treres had crossed the Bosphorus about 710, and
the meeting of the two streams of immigration may be
placed in the opening years of the seventh century. 2 The

the compilers of a later period, refers, concerning the two Scythian princes
Ylinus and Scolopitus : they seem to have settled along the coast, on the
banks of the Thermoclon and in the district of Themiscyra.

1 Strabo says decisively that the Treres were both Cimmerians and
Thracians ; elsewhere he makes the Treres synonymous with the Cimmerians.
The Treres were probably the predominating tribe among the people which
had come into Asia on that side.

2 Gelzer thinks that the invasion by the Bosphorus took place about 705,
and Radet about 708 ; and their reckoning seems to me to be so likely to be
correct, that I do not hesitate to place the arrival of the Treres in Asia about
the time they have both indicated roughly speaking, about 710 B.C.

VOL. VIII. I

114 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

combined hordes did iiot at once attack Plnygia itself,
but spread themselves along the coast, from the mouths
of the Ehyndakos to those of Halys ; constituting a sort
of maritime confederation of which Heraclea and Sinope
were the chief towns. This confederation must not be
regarded as a regularly constituted state, but rather as
a vast encampment in which the warriors could leave
their families and their spoil in safety ; they issued from
it nearly every year to spread themselves over the neigh
bouring provinces, sometimes in one direction, sometimes
in another. The ancient sanctuaries of Pteria and the
treasures they contained excited their cupidity, but they
were not well enough equipped to undertake the siege
of a strongly fortified place, and for want of anything
better were content to hold it to ransom. The bulk of
the indigenous population lived even then in those sub
terranean dwellings so difficult of access, which are still
used as habitations by the tribes on the banks of the
Halys, and it is possible that they helped to swell the
marauding troops of the new-comers. In the declining
years of Sennacherib, it would appear that the Ninevite
provinces possessed an irresistible attraction for these
various peoples. The fame of the wealth accumulated in
the regions beyond the Taurus and the Euphrates, in
Syria and Mesopotamia, provoked their cupidity beyond
all bounds, and the time was at hand when the fear
alone of the Assyrian armies would no longer avail to
hold them in check.

The last years of Sennacherib had been embittered by
the intrigues which usually gathered around a monarch

RIVALRY BETWEEN SENNACHERIB S SONS

115

enfeebled by age and incapable of bearing the cares of
government with his former vigour. A fierce rivalry
existed between those of his sons who aspired to the
throne, each of whom possessed his following of partisans,
both at court and among the people, who were ready to

-

INHABITED CAVES ON THE BANKS OF THE HALTS. 1

support him, if need be even with the sword. One of these
princes, probably the eldest of the king s remaining sons, 2
named Assur-akhe-iddin, called by us Esarhaddon, had
already been nominated his successor, and had received
the official investiture of the Babylonian kingdom under

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph sent by Alfred Boissier.

2 The eldest was perhaps that Assur-nadin-shumu who reigned in
Babylon, and who was taken prisoner to Elam by King Khalludush.

110 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

the name of Assur-etilmuktn-pal. 1 The catastrophe of 689
had not resulted in bringing ahout the ruin of Babylon,
as Sennacherib and his ministers had hoped. The temples,
it is true, had been desecrated and demolished, the palaces
and public buildings razed to the ground, and the ramparts
thrown down, but, in spite of the fact that the city had
been set on fire by the conquerors, the quarters inhabited
by the lower classes still remained standing, and those
of the inhabitants who had escaped being carried away
captive, together with such as had taken refuge in the
surrounding country or had hidden themselves in neigh
bouring cities, had gradually returned to their desolated
homes. They cleared the streets, repaired the damage
inflicted during the siege, and before long the city, which
was believed to be hopelessly destroyed, rose once more
with the vigour, if not with the wealth, which it had
enjoyed, before its downfall. The mother of Esarhaddon
was a Babylonian, by name Naki a; and as soon as her
son came into possession of his inheritance, an impulse of
filial piety moved him to restore to his mother s city its
former rank of capital. Animated by the strong religious
feeling which formed the groundwork of his character,
Esarhaddon had begun his reign by restoring the sanctuaries
which had been the cradle of the Assyrian religion, and his
intentions, thus revealed at the very outset, had won for

1 The idea of an enthronisation at Babylon in the lifetime of Senna
cherib, put forward by the earlier Assyriologists, based on an inscription on
a lion s head discovered at Babylon, has been adopted and confirmed by
Winckler. It was doubtless on this occasion that Esarhaddon received as a
present from his father the objects mentioned in the document which Sayce
and Budge have called, without sufficient reason, The Will of Sennacherib.

THE MURDER OF SENNACHERIB 117

him the sympathy of the Babylonians ; 1 this, indeed, was
excited sooner than he expected, and perhaps helped to
secure to him his throne. During his absence from
Nineveh, a widespread plot had been formed in that city,
and on the 20th day of Tebeth, 681, at the hour when
Sennacherib was praying before the image of his god,
two of his sons, Sharezer and Adarmalik (Adrammelech),
assassinated their father at the foot of the altar. 2 One
half of the army proclaimed Sharezer king ; the northern
provinces espoused his cause ; and Esarhaddon must for
the moment have lost all hope of the succession. His
father s tragic fate overwhelmed him with fear and grief;
he rent his clothes, groaned and lamented like a lion
roaring, and could be comforted only by the oracles
pronounced by the priests of Babylon. An assurance that
the gods favoured his cause reached him even from Assyria,

1 A fragment seems to show clearly that the restoration of the temples
was begun even in the lifetime of Sennacherib.

2 We possess three different accounts of the murder of Sennacherib : 1 .
In the Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches. 2. In the Bible (2 Kings xix. 36,
37 ; cf. Isa. xxxvii. 37, 38 ; 2 C/iron. xxxii. 21). 3. In Berosus. The
biblical account alone mentions both murderers ; the Chronicle and Berosus
speak of only one, and their testimony seems to prevail with several
historians. I believe that the silence of the Chronicle and of Berosus is
explained by the fact that Sharezer was chief in the conspiracy, and the one
among the sons who aspired to the kingdom : the second murderer merely
acted for his brother, and consequently had no more right to be mentioned
by name than those accomplices not of the blood-royal who shared in the
murder. The name Sharezer is usually considered as an abbreviation of the
Assyrian name Nergal-sharuzur, or Assur-sharuzur. Winckler thinks that
he sees in it a corruption of Sharitir, abbreviated from Sharitir-assur, which
he finds as a royal name on a fragment in the British Museum ; he proposes
to recognise in this Sharitir-assur, Sharezer enthroned after his father s
death.

118 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

and Nineveh, after a few weeks of vacillation, acknow
ledged him as its sovereign, the rebellion being mercilessly
crushed on the 2nd of Adar. 1 Although this was a
considerable advantage to Esarhaddon s cause, it could
not be considered as decisive, since the provinces of the
Euphrates still declared for Sharezer ; the gods, therefore,
once more intervened. Ishtar of Arbela had long been
considered as the recognised patroness and oracle of the
dynasty. Whether it were a question of a foreign expedi
tion or a rebellion at home, of a threatened plague or
invasion, of a marriage or an alliance with some powerful
neighbour, the ruling sovereign would invariably have
recourse to her, always with the same formula, to demand
counsel of her for the conduct of affairs in hand, and the
replies which she vouchsafed in various ways were taken
into consideration; her will, as expressed by the mouth
of her ministers, would hasten, suspend, or modify the
decisions of the king. Esarhaddon did not neglect to
consult the goddess, as well as Assur and Sin, Sham ash,
Bel, Nebo, and Nergal ; and their words, transcribed upon
a tablet of clay, induced him to act without further delay :
" Go, do not hesitate, for we march with thee and we will
cast down thine enemies ! " Thus encouraged, he made
straight for the scene of danger without passing through

1 The Bible alone tells us that Sharezer retired to Urartu (2 Kings xix.
37). To explain the plan of this campaign, it is usually supposed that at
the time of his father s death Esarhaddon was either beyond Mount Taurus
or else on the Armenian frontier ; the sequence of the dates in the Babylonian
Chronicle of Pinches, compels me to revert to the opinion that Esarhaddon
marched from Babylon against the rebels, and pursued them as far as Mount
Taurus, and beyond it to Khanigalbat.

THE DEFEAT OF SHAREZER 119

Nineveh, so as to prevent Sharezer and his party having
time to recover. His biographers depict Esarhaddon
hurrying forward, often a day or more in advance of his
battalions, without once turning to see who followed him,
and without waiting to allow the horses of his baggage-
waggons to be unharnessed or permitting his servants to
pitch his tent ; he rested merely for a few moments on
the bare ground, indifferent to the cold and nocturnal
frosts of the month of Sebat. It would appear as if
Sharezer had placed his hopes on the Cimmerians, and
had expected their chiefs to come to the rescue. This
hypothesis seems borne out by the fact that the decisive
battle took place beyond the Euphrates and the Taurus,
in the country of Khanigalbat. Esarhaddon attributed his
success to Ishtar, the goddess of bravery and of combat ;
she alone had broken the weapons of the rebels, she alone
had brought confusion into their lines, and had inclined
the hearts of the survivors to submit. They cried aloud,
" This is our king ! and Sharezer thereupon fled into
Armenia. The war had been brought to a close with such
rapidity that even the most unsettled of the Assyrian
subjects and vassals had not had time to take advantage
of it for their own purposes ; the Kalda on the Persian
Gulf, and the Sidonians on the Mediterranean, were the
only two peoples who had openly revolted, and were
preparing to enter on a struggle to preserve their in
dependence thus once more regained. Yet the events of
the preceding months had shaken the power of Nineveh
more seriously than we should at first suppose. For the
first time since the accession of Tiglath-pileser III. the

120 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

almost inevitable troubles which accompany the change
of a sovereign had led to an open war. The vast army
of Sargon and Sennacherib had been split up, and the
two factions into which it was divided, commanded as
they were by able generals and composed of troops
accustomed to conquer, must have suffered more keenly
in an engagement with each other than in the course of
an ordinary campaign against a common enemy. One
part at least of the military staff had become disorganised ;
regiments had been decimated, and considerable contingents
were required to fill the vacancies in the ranks. The
male population of Assyria, suddenly called on to furnish
the necessary effective force, could not supply the demand
without drawing too great a proportion of men from the
country ; and one of those crises of exhaustion was imminent
which come upon a nation after an undue strain, often
causing its downfall in the midst of its success, and yielding
it an easy prey to the wiles of its adversaries. 1

Esarhaddon was personally inclined for peace, and as
soon as he was established on the throne he gave orders

1 The information we possess concerning Esarhaddon is gathered from :
1. The Inscription of Cylinders A, B, C, the second of the three better known
as the Broken Cylinder. These texts contain a summary of the king s wars,
in which the subject-matter is arranged geographically, not chronologically :
they cease with the eponymy of Akhazilu, i.e. the year 673. 2. Some
mutilated fragments of the Annals. 3. The Black Stone of Aberdeen, on
which the account of the rebuilding of Babylon is given. 4. The Stele of
Zindjirli. 5. The consultations of the god Shamash by Esarhaddon in
different circumstances of his reign. 6. A considerable number of small
inscriptions and some tablets. The classification of the events of this reign
presents serious difficulties, which have been partly overcome by passages in
the Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches.

CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE KALDA 121

that the building works, which had been suspended during
the late troubles, should be resumed and actively pushed
forward; but the unfortunate disturbances of the times did
not permit of his pursuing his favourite occupation without
interruption, and, like those of his warlike predecessors, his
life was passed almost entirely on the field of battle.
Babylon, grateful for what he had done for her, tendered
him an unbroken fidelity throughout the stormy episodes of
his reign, and showed her devotion to him by an unwaver
ing obedience. The Kalda received no support from that
quarter, and were obliged to bear the whole burden of the
war which they had provoked. Their chief, Nabu-ziru-
kinish-lishir, who had been placed over them by Senna
cherib, now harassed the cities of Karduniash, and Ningal-
shumiddin, the prefect of Uru, demanded immediate help
from Assyria. Esarhaddon at once despatched such a
considerable force that the Kaldu chief did not venture to
meet it in the open field, and after a few unimportant
skirmishes he gave up the struggle, and took refuge in
Elam. Khumban-khaldash, had died there in 680, a few
months before the murder of Sennacherib, and his son,
a second Khumban-khaldash, had succeeded him ; this
prince appears either to have shared the peaceful tastes of
his brother-king of Assyria, or more probably did not feel
himself sufficiently secure of his throne to risk the chance
of coming into collision with his neighbour. He caused
Nabu-ziru-kinish-lishir to be slain, and Naid-marduk, the
other son of Merodach-baladan, who had shared his
brother s flight, was so terrified at his murder that he at
once sought refuge in Nineveh ; he was reinstated in his

122 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

paternal domain on condition of paying a tribute, and,
faithful to bis oath of allegiance, he thenceforward came
yearly in person to bring his dues and pay homage to his
sovereign (679). The Kalda rising had, in short, been
little more than a skirmish, and the chastisement of the
Sidonians would have involved neither time nor trouble,
had not the desultory movements of the barbarians obliged
the Assyrians to concentrate their troops on several points
which were threatened on their northern frontier. The
Cimmerians and the Scythians had not suffered themselves
to be disconcerted by the rapidity with which the fate of
Sharezer had been decided, and after a moment s hesitation
they had again set out in various directions on their work
of conquest, believing, no doubt, that they would meet with
a less vigorous resistance after so serious an upheaval at
Nineveh. The Cimmerians appear to have been the first
to have provoked hostilities ; their king Tiushpa, who
ruled over their territory on the Black Sea, ejected the
Assyrian garrisons placed on the Cappadocian frontier, and
his presence in that quarter aroused all the insubordinate
elements still remaining in the Cilician valleys. Esarh addon
brought him to a stand on the confines of the plain of
Saros, defeated him in Khubushna, 1 and drove the remains

1 Several Assyriologists have thought that Khubushna might be an error
for Khubushkhia, and have sought the seat of war on the eastern frontier of
Assyria : in reality the context shows that the place under discussion is a
district in Asia Minor, identified with Kamisene by Gelzer, but left un
identified by most authorities. Jensen has shown that the name is met with
as early as the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III., where we should read
Khubishna, and he places the country in Northern Syria, or perhaps further
north in the western part of Taurus. The determinative proves that there

ESARHADDON IN THE WESTERN PROVINCES 123

of the horde back across the Halys. Having thus averted
the Cimmerian danger, he was able, without much
difficulty, to bring the rebels of the western provinces into
subjection. 1 His troops thrust back the Cilicians and Duha
into the rugged fastnesses of the Taurus, and razed to the
ground one and twenty of their strongholds, besides burning
numberless villages and carrying the inhabitants away
captive. 2 The people of Parnaki, in the bend of the
Euphrates between Tel-Assur and the sources of the
Ballkh, had taken up arms on hearing of the brief successes
of Tiushpa, but were pitilessly crushed by Esarhaddon.
The sheikh of Arzani, in the extreme south of Syria, close
to the brook of Egypt, had made depredations on the
Assyrian frontier, but he was seized by the nearest governor
and sent in chains to Nineveh. A cage was built for him
at the gate of the city, and he was exposed in it to the
jeers of the populace, in company with the bears, dogs,
and boars which the Ninevites were in the habit of keep
ing confined there. It would appear that Esarhaddon
set himself to come to a final reckoning with Sidon and

was a town of this name as well as a district, and this consideration
encourages me to recognise in Khubushna or Khubishna the town of
Kabissos-Kabessos, the Sis of the kingdom of Lesser Armenia.

These expeditions are not dated in any of the documents that deal
with them : the fact that they are mentioned along with the war against
Tiushpa and Sidon makes me inclined to consider them as being a result
of the Cimmerian invasion. They were, strictly speaking, the quelling
of revolts caused by the presence of the Cimmerians in that part of the
empire.

The Duua or Duha of this campaign, who are designated as neighbours
of the Tabal, lived in the Anti-taurus : the name of the town, Tyana, Tuana,
is possibly composed of their name and of the suffix -na, which is met with
in Asianic languages.

124 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Phoenicia, the revolt of which had irritated him all the
more, in that it showed an inexcusable ingratitude towards
his family. For it was Sennacherib who, in order to break
the power of Elulai, had not only rescued Sidon from the
dominion of Tyre, but had enriched it with the spoils taken
from its former rulers, and had raised it to the first rank
among the Phoenician cities. Ethbaal in his lifetime had
never been wanting in gratitude, but his successor,
Abdimilkot, forgetful of recent services, had chafed at the
burden of a foreign yoke, and had recklessly thrown it off as
soon as an occasion presented itself. He had thought to
strengthen himself by securing the help of a certain
Sanduarri, who possessed the two fortresses of Kundu and
Sizu, in the Cilician mountains ; 1 but neither this alliance
nor the insular position of his capital was able to safeguard
him, when once the necessity for stemming the tide of the
Cimmerian influx was over, and the whole of the Assyrian
force was free to be brought against him. Abdimilkot
attempted to escape by sea before the last attack, but he
was certainly taken prisoner, though the circumstances are
unrecorded, and Sanduarri fell into the enemy s hands a
short time after. The suppression of the rebellion was as
vindictive as the ingratitude which prompted it was
heinous. Sidon was given up to the soldiery and then
burnt, while opposite to the ruins of the island city the

1 Some Assyriologists have proposed to locate these two towns in Cilicia ;
others place them in the Lebanon, Kundi being identified with the modern
village of Ain-Kundiya. The name of Kundu so nearly recalls that of
Kuinda, the ancient fort mentioned by Strabo, to the north of Anchiale,
between Tarsus and Anazarbus, that I do not hesitate to identify them, and
to place Kundu in Cilicia.

THE REVERSES OF THE CIMMERIANS 125

Assj T rians built a fortress on the mainland, which they
called Kar-Esarhaddon. The other princes of Phoenicia
and Syria were hastily convoked, and were witnesses of the
vengeance wreaked on the city, as well as of the installation
of the governor to whom the new province was entrusted.
They could thus see what fate awaited them in the event of
their showing any disposition to rebel, and the majority of
them were not slow to profit by the lesson. The spoil was
carried back in triumph to Nineveh, and comprised, besides
the two kings and their families, the remains of their court
and people, and the countless riches which the commerce
of the world had brought into the great ports of the
Mediterranean ebony, ivory, gold and silver, purple,
precious woods, household furniture, and objects of value
from all parts in such quantities that it was long before the
treasury at Nineveh needed any replenishing. 1

The reverses of the Cimmerians did not serve as a
warning to the Scythians. Settled on the borders of
Manna, partly, no doubt, on the territory formerly
dependent on that state, 2 they secretly incited the

1 The importance of the event and the amount of the spoil captured are
apparent, if we notice that Esarhaddon does not usually record the booty
taken after each campaign ; he does so only when the number of objects and
of prisoners taken from the enemy is extraordinary. The Babylonian Chronicle
of Pinches places the capture of Sidon in the second, and the death of
Abdimilkot in the fifth year of his reign. Hence Winckler has concluded
that Abdimilkot held out for fully two years after the loss of Sidon. The
general tenor of the account, as given by the inscriptions, seems to me to be
that the capture of the king followed closely on the fall of the town :
Abdimilkot and Sanduarri probably spent the years between 679 and G76 in
prison.

2 One of the oracles of Sharaash speaks of the captives as dwelling in a
canton of the Mannai.

126 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

inhabitants to revolt, and to join in the raids which they
made on the valley of the Upper Zab, and they would
even have urged their horses up to the very walls of
Nineveh had the occasion presented itself. Esarhaddon,
warned of their intrigues by the spies which he sent
among them, could not bring himself either to anticipate
their attack or to assume the offensive, but anxiously
consulted the gods with regard to them: U Shamash,"
he wrote to the Sun-god, " great lord, thou whom I
question, answer me in sincerity ! From this day forth,
the 22nd day of this month of Simanu, until the 21st day
of the month of Duzu of this year, during these thirty
days and thirty nights, a time has been foreordained
favourable to the work of prophecy. In this time thus
foreordained, the hordes of the Scythians who inhabit a
district of the Mannai, and who have crossed the Mannian
frontier, will they succeed in their undertaking? Will
they emerge from the passes of Khubushkia at the towns
of Khaminia and Anlsuskia ; will they ravage the borders
of Assyria and steal great booty, immense spoil ? that
doth thy high divinity know. Is it a decree, and in the
mouth of thy high divinity, Shamash, great lord,
ordained and promulgated ? He who sees, shall he see it ;
he who hears, shall he hear it ? " 1 The god comforted his
faithful servant, but there was a brief delay before his
answer threw light on the future, and the king s questions
were constantly renewed as fresh couriers brought in

1 The town of Anisuslda is not mentioned elsewhere, but Kharrania is
met with in the account of the thirty-first campaign of Shalmaneser III.
with Kharrana as its variant.

THE INCURSIONS OP THE SCYTHIANS 127

further information. In 678 B.C. the Scythians determined
to try their fortune, and their king, Ishpakai, 1 took the
field, followed hy the Mannai. He was defeated and driven
back to the north of Lake Urumiah, the Mannai were
reduced to subjection, and Assyria once more breathed
freely. The victory, however, was not a final one, and
affairs soon assumed as threatening an aspect as before.
The Scythian -tribes came on the scene, one after another,
and allied themselves to the various peoples subject
either directly or indirectly to Nineveh. 2 On one occasion
it was Kashtariti, the regent of Karkashshi, 3 who wrote to
Mamitiarshu, one of the Median princes, to induce him
to make common cause with himself in attacking the
fortress of Kishshashshu on the eastern border of the
empire. At another time we find the same chief plotting
with the Mannai and the Saparda to raid the town of
Kilman, and Esarhaddon implores the god to show him
how the place may be saved from their machinations. 4 He

1 This king s name seems to be of Iranian origin. Justi has connected
it with the name Aspakos, which is read in a Greek inscription of the
Cimmerian Bosphorus ; both forms have been connected with the Sanskrit
Afvaka.

2 This subdivision of the horde into several bodies seems to be indicated
by the number of different royal names among the Scythians which are
mentioned in the Assyrian documents.

3 The site of Karkashshi is unknown, but the list of Median princes sub
dued by Sargon shows that it was situated in Media. Kishshashshu is very
probably the same as Kishisim or Kishisu, the town which Sargon subdued,
and which he called Kar-nergal or Kar-ninib, and which is mentioned in the
neighbourhood of Parsuash, Karalla, Kharkhar, Media, and Ellipi. I think
that it would be in the basin of the Gave Rud ; Billerbeck places it at the
ruins of Siama, in the upper valley of the Lesser Zab.

4 The people of Saparda, called by the Persians Sparda, have been with
good reason identified with the Sepharad of the prophet Obadiah (ver. 20) :

128 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

opens negotiations in order to gain time, bat the barbarity
of his adversary is such that he fears for his envoy s
safety, and speculates whether he may not have been put
to death. The situation would indeed have become critical
if Kashtariti had succeeded in bringing against Assyria
a combined force of Medes, Scythians, Mannai, and
Cimmerians, together with Urartu and its king, Busas
III. ; but, fortunately, petty hatreds made the combination
of these various elements an impossibility, and they were
unable to arrive at even a temporary understanding. The
Scythians themselves were not united as to the best course
to be pursued, and while some endeavoured to show their
hostility by every imaginable outrage and annoyance,
others, on the contrary, desired to enter into friendly
relations with Assyria. Esarhaddon received on one
occasion an embassy from Bartatua, 1 one of their kings,
who humbly begged the hand of a lady of the blood-
royal, swearing to make a lasting friendship with him if
Esarhaddon would consent to the marriage. It was hard
for a child brought up in the harem, amid the luxury and
comfort of a civilised court, to be handed over to a semi-
barbarous spouse ; but state policy even in those days was
exacting, and more than one princess of the line of Sargon
had thus sacrificed herself by an alliance which was to the
interest of her own people. 2 What troubled Esarhaddon

the Assyrian texts show that this country should be placed in the neighbour
hood of the Mannai of the Medes.

1 Bartatua is, according to Winckler s ingenious observation, the Proto-
thyes of Herodotus, the father of Madyes. [The name should more probably
be read Masta-tua.- ED.]

2 Sargon had in like manner given one of his daughters in marriage to

EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE MEDES 129

was not the thought of sacrificing a sister or a daughter,
hut a misgiving that the sacrifice would not produce the
desired result, and in his difficulty he once more had
recourse to Shamash. " If Esarhaddon, King of Assyria,
grants a daughter of the blood (royal) to Bartatua, the
King of the Iskuza, who has sent an embassy to him to
ask a wife, will Bartatua, King of the Iskuza, act loyally
towards Esarhaddon, King of Assyria ? will he honestly
and faithfully enter into friendly engagements with Esar
haddon, King of Assyria ? will he observe the conditions
(made by) Esarhaddon, King of Assyria ? will he fulfil
them punctually ? that thy high divinity knoweth. His
promises, in a decree and in the mouth of thy high
divinity, Shamash, great lord, are they decreed,
promulgated ? It is not recorded what came of these
negotiations, nor whether the god granted the hand of
the princess to her barbarian suitor. All we know is,
that the incursions and intrigues of the Scythians continued
to be a perpetual source of trouble to the Medes, and
roused them either to rebel against Assyria or to claim
the protection of its sovereign. Esarhaddon, in the course
of his reign, was more than once compelled to interfere
in order to ensure peace and quietness to the provinces
on the table-land of Iran, which Sargon had conquered and
which Sennacherib had retained. 1 He had first to carry

Ambaris, King of Tabal, in order to attach him to the Assyrian cause, but
without permanent success.

L Several recent historians allege that Sennacherib did not keep the
territories that Sargon had conquered, and that the Assyrian frontier became
contracted on that side ; whereas the general testimony of the known texts
seems to me to prove the contrary, namely, that he preserved nearly all the

VOL. VIII, K

130 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

his arms to the extreme edge of the desert, into the rugged
country of Patusharra, lying at the foot of Dernavend,
rich in lapis-lazuli, and as yet untrodden by any king of
Assyria. 1 Having reached his destination, he captured two
petty kings, Eparna and Shitirparna, and exiled them to
Assyria, together with their people, their thoroughbred
horses, and their two-humped camels, in fine, all the
possessions of their subjects. Shortly after this, three
other Median chiefs, hitherto intractable Uppis of Par-
takka, Zanasana of Partukka, 2 Kamatea of Urakazabarna-
came to Nineveh to present the king with horses and
lapis-lazuli, the best of everything they possessed, and
piteously entreated him to forgive their misdeeds. They
represented that the whole of Media was torn asunder by
countless strifes, prince against prince, city against city,
and an iron will was needed to bring the more turbulent
elements to order. Esarhaddon lent a favourable ear to
their prayers ; he undertook to protect them on condition

territory annexed by his father, and that Esarhaddon was far from diminish
ing this inheritance. If these two kings mention only insignificant deeds of
arms in the western region, it is because the population, exhausted by the
wars of the two preceding reigns, easily recognised the Ninevite supremacy,
and paid tribute to the Assyrian governors with sufficient regularity to pre
vent any important military expedition against them.

1 The country of Patusharra has been identified with that of the
Patischorians mentioned by Strabo in Persia proper, who would have lived
further north, not far from Demavend ; Sachau calls attention to the existence
of a mountain chain Patashwar-gar or Padishwar-gir, in front of Choarenf ,

and he places the country of Patusharra between Demavend and the desert.

2 Partakka and Partukka seem to be two different adaptations of the
name Paraituka, the Paraetakene of the Greek geographers ; Tiele thinks of
Parthyene. I think that these two names designate the northern districts
of Parsetakene, the present Ashnakhor or the country near to it.

THE TRIPLE RAMPARTS OF KHARKHAR

131

of their paying an annual tribute, and he put ,them under
the protection of the Assyrian governors who were nearest
to their territory. Kharkhar, securely entrenched behind
its triple ramparts, assumed the position of capital to these
Iranian marches.

It is difficult to determine the precise dates of these
various events ; we learn merely that they took place

% X rf*l^^>^^>5^^jO>V-^u^> -v- 1 - V v " "^-^ - ~-~^S3^^>\LJg X^ :

- -o --- * -- - -* "-- - --.-... Tygu *"

THE TOWN OF KHARKHAR WITH ITS TRIPLE RAMPART. 1

before 673, and we surmise that they must have occurred
between the second and sixteenth year of the king s
reign. 2 The outcome of them was a distinct gain to

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Flandin, in Botta.

The facts relating to the submission of Patusharra and of Partukka
are contained in Cylinder A, dated from the eponymous year of Akhazilu,
m 673. Moreover, the version which this document contains seems to have
been made up of two pieces placed one at the end of the other : the first an
account of events which occurred during an earlier period of the reign, and in
which the exploits are classified in geographical order, from Sidon in the west
the Arabs bordering on Chaldjea in the east ; and the second consisting of

132 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Assyria, in the acquisition of several new vassals. The
recently founded kingdom of Ecbatana lacked as yet the
prestige which would have enabled it to hold its own
against Nineveh ; besides which, Deiokes, the contemporary
ruler assigned to it by tradition, was of too complaisant a
nature to seek occasions of quarrel. The Scythians, after
having declared their warlike intentions, seem to have
come to a more peaceable frame of mind, and to have
curried favour with Nineveh ; but the rulers of the capital
kept a strict watch upon them, since their numbers, their
intrepid character, and instinct for rapine made them
formidable enemies the most dangerous, indeed, that
the empire had encountered on its north-eastern frontier
for nearly a century.

This policy of armed surveillance, which proved so
successful in these regions, was also carefully maintained
by Esarhaddon on his south-eastern border against Assyria s
traditional enemy, the King of Susa. Babylon, far from
exhibiting any restlessness at her present position, showed

additional campaigns carried out after the completion of the former which
is proved by the place which these exploits occupy, out of their normal
position in the geographical series and making mention of Partusharra and
Partukka, as well as of Belikisha. The editor of the Broken Cylinder has
tried to combine these latter elements with the former in the order adopted
by the original narrator. As far as can be seen in what is left of the
columns, he has placed, after the Chaldsean events, the facts concerning
Partukka, then those concerning Patusharra, and finally the campaign
against Bazu, the extreme limit of Esarhaddon s activity in the south.
Knowing that the campaign in the desert and the death of Abdimilkot took
place in 676, and that we find them already alluded to in the first part of
the narrative, as well as the events of 675 relating to the revolt of Dakkuri,
we may conclude that the submission of Patusharra and that of Partukka
occurred in 674, or at latest in the beginning of 673-

REBUILDING OF BABYLOX 133

her gratitude for the favours which her suzerain had
showered upon her by resigning herself to become the
ally of Assyria. She regarded her late disaster as the
punishment inflicted by Marduk for her revolts against
Sargon and Sennacherib. The god had let loose the
powers of evil against her, and the Arakhtu, overflowing
among the ruins, had swept them utterly away ; indeed,
for the space of ten years, destruction and desolation
seemed to have taken the place of her former wealth of
temples and palaces. In the eleventh year, the divine
wrath was suddenly appeased. No sooner had Esarhaddon
mounted the throne, than he entreated Shamash, Kamman,
and even Marduk himself, to reveal to him their will with
regard to the city ; whereupon the omens, interpreted by
the seers, commanded him to rebuild Babylon and to raise
again the temple of E-sagilla. For this purpose he brought
together all the captives taken in war that he had at his
disposal, and employed them in digging out clay and in
brick- making ; he then prepared the foundations, upon
which he poured libations of oil, honey, palm-wine, and
other wines of various kinds ; he himself took the mason s
hod, and with tools of ebony, cypress wood, and oak,
moulded a brick for the new sanctuary. The work was,
indeed, a gigantic undertaking, and demanded years of
uninterrupted labour, but Esarhaddon pushed it forward,
sparing neither gold, silver, costly stone, rare woods, or
plates of enamel in its embellishment. He began to re
build at the same time all the other temples and the two
city walls Imgurbel and Nimittibel ; to clear and make
good the canals which supplied the place with water, and

134 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

to replant the sacred groves and the gardens of the palace.
The inhabitants were encouraged to come back to their
homes, and those who had been dispersed among distant
provinces were supplied with clothes and food for their
return journey, besides having their patrimony restored
to them. This rebuilding of the ancient city certainly
displeased and no doubt alarmed her two former rivals,
the Kalda and Elam, who had hoped one day to wrest
her heritage from Assyria. Elam concealed its ill-feeling,
but the Kalda of Bit-Dakkuri had invaded the almost
deserted territory, and appropriated the lands which
had belonged to the noble families of Babylon, Borsippa,
and Sippara. When the latter, therefore, returned from
exile, and, having been reinstituted in their rights,
attempted to resume possession of their property, the
usurpers peremptorily refused to relinquish it. Esarhaddon
was obliged to interfere to ensure its restoration, and as
their king, Shamash-ibni, was not inclined to comply with
the order, Esarhaddon removed him from the throne, and
substituted in his place a certain Nabushallim, son of
Belesys, who showed more deference to the suzerain s
wishes. It is possible that about this time the Kalda
may have received some support from the Aramseans of
the desert and the Arab tribes encamped between the
banks of the Euphrates and Syria, or, on the other hand,
the latter may have roused the wrath of Assyria by inroads
of a more than usually audacious character. However this
may be, in 676 Esarhaddon resolved to invade their desert
territory, and to inflict such reprisals as would force them
thenceforward to respect the neighbouring border provinces.

SUBMISSION OP THE NORTHERN ARABS 135

His first relations with them had been of a courteous and
friendly nature. Hazael of Adumu, one of the sheikhs of
Kedar, defeated by Sennacherib towards the end of his
reign, had taken the opportunity of the annual tribute to
come to Nineveh with considerable presents, and to
implore the restoration of the statues of his gods. Esar-
haddon had caused these battered idols to be cleaned
and repaired, had engraved upon them an inscription in
praise of Assur, and had further married the suppliant
sheikh to a woman of the royal harem, named Tabua. In
consideration of this, he had imposed upon the Arab a
supplementary tribute of sixty-five camels, and had re
stored to him his idols. All this took place, no doubt,
soon after the king s accession. A few years later, on
the death of Hazael, his son Yauta solicited investiture,
but a competitor for the chieftaincy, a man of unknown
origin, named Uahab, treacherously incited the Arabs to
rebel, and threatened to overthrow him. Esarhaddon
caused Uahab to be seized, and exposed him in chains
at the gate of Nineveh ; but, in consideration of this
service to the Arabs, he augmented the tribute which
already weighed upon the people by a further demand
for ten gold minas, one thousand precious stones, fifty
camels, and a thousand measures of spicery. The re
pression of these Arabs of Kedar thus confirmed Esar-
haddon s supremacy over the extreme northern region
of Arabia, between- Damascus and Sippara or Babylon;
but in a more southerly direction, in the wadys which
unite Lower Chaldsea to the districts of the Jordan and
the Dead Sea, there still remained several rich and

136 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

warlike states among others, Bazu, 1 whose rulers had
never done homage to the sovereigns of either Assyria
or Karduniash. To carry hostilities into the heart of
their country was a bold and even hazardous undertaking ;
it could be reached only by traversing miles of arid and
rocky plains, exposed to the rays of a burning sun, vast
extents of swamps and boggy pasture land, desolate wastes
infested with serpents and scorpions, and a mountain
range of blackish lava known as Khazu. It would have
been folly to risk a march with the heavy Assyrian infantry
in the face of such obstacles. Esarhaddon probably selected
for the purpose a force composed of cavalry, chariots, and
lightly equipped foot-soldiers, and despatched them with
orders to reach the Jauf by forced marches through the
Wady Hauran. The Arabs, who were totally unprepared
for such a movement, had not time to collect their forces ;
eight of their chiefs were taken by surprise and killed one
after another among them Kisu of Khaldili, Agbaru of
Ilpiati, Mansaku of Magalani, and also some reigning
queens. La, the King of Yadi, at first took refuge in
the mountains, but afterwards gave himself up to the
enemy, and journeyed as far as Nineveh to prostrate
himself at Esarhaddon s feet, who restored to him his

1 The Bazu of this text is certainly the Buz which the Hebrew books
name among the children of Nahor (Gen. xxii. 21 ; Jer. xxv. 23). The early
Assyriologists identified Khazu with Uz, the son of Nahor ; Delitzsch com
pares the name with that of Hazo (Huz), the fifth son of Nahor (Gen. xxii.
22), and his opinion is admitted by most scholars. For the site of these
countries I have followed the ideas of Delattre, who identifies them with the
oases of Jauf and Meskakeh, in. the centre of Northern Arabia. The
Assyrians must have set out by the Wady Hauran or by one of the wadys
near to Babylon, and have returned by a more southern wady.

ESARHADDON S PRUDENT POLICY 137

gods and his crown, on the usual condition of paying
tribute. A vassal occupying a country so remote and so
difficult of access could not be supposed to preserve an
unbroken fidelity towards his suzerain, but he no longer
ventured to plunder the caravans which passed through his
territory, and that in reality was
all that was expected of him.

Esarhaddon thus pursued a
prudent and unadventurous
policy in the northern and
eastern portions of his empire,
maintaining a watchful atti
tude towards the Cimmerians
and Scythians in the north,
carrying on short defensive
campaigns among the Medes
in the east, preserving peace
with Elam, and making occa-

SHABITOKU, KING OF

sional flying raids in the south,
rather from the necessity for repressing troublesome border
tribes than with any idea of permanent conquest. This
policy must have been due to a presentiment of danger
from the side of Egypt, or to the inception of a great
scheme for attacking the reigning Pharaoh. After the
defeat of his generals at Altaku, Shabltoku had made
no further attempt to take the offensive ; his authority
over the feudal nobility of Egypt was so widely acknow
ledged that it causes us no surprise to meet with his
cartouches on more than one ruin between Thebes and

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius.

138 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Memphis, 1 but his closing years were marred by mis
fortune. There was then living at Napata a certain
Taharqa, one of those scions of the solar race who
enjoyed the title of " Koyal brothers," and from among
whom Amon of the Holy Mountain was wont to choose
his representative to reign over the land of Ethiopia
whenever the throne became vacant. It does not appear
that the father of Taharqa ever held the highest rank ;
it was from his mother, Akaluka, that he inherited
his pretensions to the crown, and through her probably
that he traced his descent from the family of the high
priests. Tradition asserts that he did not gain the regal
power without a struggle ; having been proclaimed king in
Ethiopia at the age of twenty, as the result of some
revolution, he is said to have marched against Shabitoku,
and, coming up with him in the Delta, to have defeated
him, taken him prisoner, and put him to death. 2 These
events took place about 693 B.C., 3 and Taharqa employed
the opening years of his reign in consolidating his authority
over the double kingdom. He married the widow of
Sabaco, Queen Dikahitamanu, and thus assumed the
guardianship of Tanuatamanu, her son by her first husband,
and this marriage secured him supreme authority in

1 His name or monuments of his erection have been discovered at
Karnak.

2 Eusebius, who cites the fact, had his information from a trustworthy
Greek source, perhaps from Manetho himself. The inscription of Tanis seems
to say that Taharqa was twenty years old at the time of his revolt.

3 Most of the lists of kings taken from Manetho assign twelve years to
the reign of Sebikhos ; one alone, that of Africanus, assigns him fourteen
years.

EGYPTIAN AFFAIRS TAHARQA

139

Ethiopia. 1 That he regarded Egypt as a conquered country
can no longer be doubted, seeing that he inserted its name
on his monuments among those of the nations which he
had vanquished. He nevertheless felt obliged to treat it

TAIIAHQA AXD HIS QUEEN DIKAHITAMAXU. 2

with consideration ; he respected the rights of the feudal
princes, and behaved himself in every way like a Pharaoh
of the old royal line. He summoned his mother from

The text of several documents only mentioned that Tanuata-manu was
the " son of his wife," which Oppert interpreted to mean son of Taharqa
himself, while others see in him a son of Kashto, a brother of Araenertas, or
a son of Shabitoku.

; Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the coloured plate in Lepsius.

140 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Napata, where lie had left her, and after proclaiming her
regent of the South and the North, he associated her with
himself in the rejoicings at his coronation. This ceremony,
celebrated at Tauis with the usages customary in the Delta,
was repeated at Karnak in accordance with the Theban
ritual,, and a chapel erected shortly afterwards on the
northern quay of the great sacred lake has preserved to us
the memory of it. Akaluka, installed with the rank and
prerogatives of the " Divine Spouse of Amou, presented
her son to the deity, who bestowed upon him through his
priests dominion over the whole world. She bent the bow,
and let fly the arrows towards the four cardinal points,
which she thereby symbolically delivered to him as wounded
prisoners ; the king, on his part, hurled against them
bullets of stone, and by this attack figuratively accom
plished their defeat. His wars in Africa were crowned
with a certain meed of success, 1 and his achievements in
this quarter won for him in after time so much popularity
among the Egyptians, that they extolled him to the
Greeks as one of their most illustrious conquering
Pharaohs ; they related that he had penetrated as far as
the Pillars of Hercules in the west, and that he had invaded
Europe in imitation of Sesostris. What we know to be a

1 The list inscribed on the base of the statue discovered by Mariette
contains a large number of names belonging to Africa. They are the same
as those met with in the time of the XVIII th dynasty, and were probably
copied from some monument of Ramses II. , who had himself perhaps
borrowed them from a document of the time of Thutmosis III. A bas-relief
at Medinet-Habu shows him to us in the act of smiting a group of tribes,
among which figure the Tepa, Doshrit, and " the humbled Kush ;" this bas-
relief was appropriated later on by Nectanebo.

THE BUILDINGS OF TAHARQA IN EGYPT 141

fact is, that lie secured to the valley of the Nile nearly
twenty years of prosperity, and recalled the glories of the
great reigns of former days, if not by his victories, at least
by the excellence of his administration and his activity.
He planned the erection at Karnak of a hypostyle hall in
front of the pylons of Ramses II., which should equal, if
not surpass, that of Seti I. 1 The columns of the central
aisle were disposed in two lines of six pillars each, but only
one of these now remains standing in its original place ; its
height, which is the same as that of Seti s columns, is
nearly sixty-nine feet. The columns of the side aisles, like
those which should have flanked the immense colonnade at
Luxor, were never even begun, and the hall of Taharqa, like
that of Seti I., remains unfinished to this day. He
bestowed his favour on Nubia and Ethiopia, as well as on
Egypt proper ; even Napata owed to his munificence the
most beautiful portions of its temples. The temple of
Amon, and subsequently that of Mut, were enlarged by
him ; and he decorated their ancient halls with bas-reliefs,
representing himself, accompanied by his mother and his
wife, in attitudes of adoration before the deity. The style
of the carving is very good, and the hieroglyphics would
not disgrace the walls of the Theban temples. The

1 These columns have been looked upon as triumphal pillars, designed to
support statues or divine emblems. Mariette thinks that they supported
" an edifice in the architectural style of the kiosk at Philse and the small
hypsethral temple on the roof of Denderah." I am of opinion that the
architect intended to make a hypostyle hall, but that when the columns were
erected, he perceived that the great width of the aisle they formed would
render the strength of the roof very doubtful; and so renounced the execution
of his first design.

142 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

THE COLUMX OF TAIIAKQA, AT KAEXAK. 1

Ethiopian sculptors and painters scrupulously followed the
traditions of the mother-country, and only a few insignificant

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato.

BUILDINGS OF TAHARQA IX ETHIOPIA

143

details of ethnic type or costume enable us to detect a
slight difference between their works and those of pure
Egyptian art. At the other extremity of Napata, on the
western side of the Holy Mountain, Taharqa excavated in

THE HEMISPEOS OF IIATHOR AND BISU, AT GEBEL-BAIIKAL. 1

the cliff a rock-hewn shrine, which he dedicated to Hathor
and Bisu (Bes), the patron of jollity and happiness, and the
god of music and of war. Bisu, who was at first relegated
to the lowest rank among the crowd of genii adored by the
people, had gradually risen to the highest place in the

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph in Caillaud

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

hierarchy of the gods, and his images predominated in
chapels destined to represent the cradle of the infant gods,
and the sacred spots where goddesses gave birth to their
divine offspring. The portico erected in front of the pylon
had a central avenue of pillars, against which stood

ENTRANCE TO THE HEMISPEOS OF BISU (BES), AT GEBEL-EAKKAL. 1

monstrous and grinning statues of Bisii, his hands on his
hips, and his head crowned with a large bunch of lotus-
flowers and plumes. Two rows of columns with Hathor-
headed capitals flanked the central aisle, which led to a
hall supported by massive columns, also with Hathor
capitals, and beyond it again lay the actual shrine similarly
excavated in the rocky hill ; two statues of Bisu, standing

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph in Caillaud.

THE SYRIAN POLICY OF TAHARQA 145

erect against their supporting columns, kept guard over the
entrance, and their fantastic forms, dimly discernible in the
gloom, must have appeared in ancient times to have
prohibited the vulgar throng from approaching the inner
most sanctuary. Half of the roof has fallen in since the
building was deserted, and a broad beam of light falling
through the aperture thus made reveals the hideous
grotesqueness of the statues to all comers.
The portraits of Taharqa represent
him with a strong, square-shaped head,
with full cheeks, vigorous mouth, and
determined chin, such as belong to a
man well suited to deal with that troubled
epoch, and the knowledge we as yet
possess of his conflict with Assyria fully
confirms the character exhibited by his

TAHARQA. 1

portrait statues. We may surmise that,
when once absolute master of Egypt, he must have cast
his eyes beyond the isthmus, and considered how he might
turn to his own advantage the secret grudge borne by
the Syrians against their suzerain at Nineveh, but up
to the present time we possess no indications as to the
policy he pursued in Palestine. We may safely assume,
however, that it gave umbrage to the Assyrians, and that
Esarhaddon resolved to put an end once for all to the
uneasiness it caused him. More than half a century had
elapsed since the day when the kings of Syria, alarmed
at the earliest victories of Tiglath-pileser III., had conceived

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a cast of the fragment preserved at
Gizeh

VOL. VIII. T,

146 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

the idea of pitting their former conquerors against those of
the day, and had solicited help from the Pharaohs against
Assyria. .

None of the sovereigns to whom they turned had
refused to listen to their appeals, or failed to promise
subsidies and reinforcements ; but these engagements,
however definite, had for the most part been left unfulfilled,
and when an occasion for their execution had occurred,
the Egyptian armies had merely appeared on tlie fields of
battle to beat a hasty retreat : they had not prevented the
subjugation of Damascus, Israel, Tyre, the Philistines, nor,
indeed, of any of the princes or people who trusted to their
renown ; yet, notwithstanding these numerous disappoint
ments, the prestige of the Egyptians was still so great that
insubordinate or rebel states invariably looked to them for
support and entreated their help. The Assyrian generals
had learnt by experience to meet them unmoved, being
well aware that the Egyptian army was inferior to their
own in organisation, and used antiquated weapons and
methods of warfare ; they were also well aware that the
Egyptian and even the Ethiopian soldiery had never been
able successfully to withstand a determined attack by the
Assyrian battalions, and that when once the desert which
protected Egypt had been crossed, she would, like Babylon,
fall an easy prey to their arms. It would merely be
necessary to guard against the possible danger of opposition
being offered to the passage of the invading host by the
Idumsean and Arab tribes sparsely scattered over the
country between the Nile and the Gulf of Akabah, as their
hostility would be a cause of serious uneasiness. An

KHUMBAX KHALDASH II. HIS DEATH 147

expedition, sent against Milukhkha 1 in 675 B.C., had taught
the inhabitants to respect the power of Assyria ; but the
campaign had not been brought to a satisfactory conclusion,
for the King of Elam, Khumban-khaldash II., seeing his
rival occupied at the opposite extremity of his empire, fell
unexpectedly upon Babylon, and pushing forward as far
as Sippara, laid waste the surrounding country ; and his
hateful presence even prevented the god Shamash from
making his annual progress outside the walls of the city.
The people of Bit-Dakkuri seem to have plucked up
courage at his approach, and invaded the neighbouring
territory, probably that of Borsippa. Bsarhaddon was
absent on a distant expedition, and the garrisons scattered
over the province were not sufficiently strong in numbers
to risk a pitched battle : Khumban-khaldash, therefore,
marched back with his booty to Susa entirely unmolested.
He died suddenly in his palace a few days after his return,
and was succeeded by his brother, Urtaku, who was too
intent upon seating himself securely on the throne to send
his troops on a second raid in the following year. 2
Esarhaddon deferred his revenge to a more convenient
season, and utilised the respite fate had accorded him on
the Elamite border to hasten his attack on Egypt (673 B.C.).
The expedition was a failure, and Taharqa was greatly
elated at having issued with honour from this trial of
strength. As most of the countries over which his enemy
exercised his supremacy were those which had been ruled

The name of Milukhkha, first applied to the countries in the neighbour
hood of the Persian Gulf, had been transferred to the western coasts of
Arabia, as well as that of Masan.

148 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

by his Theban ancestors in days gone by, Taharqa engraved
on the base of his statue a list of nations and towns
copied from one of the monuments of Ramses II. The
Khati, Carchemish, Mitanni, Arvad in short, a dozen
peoples already extinct or in their decline, and whose
names were merely perpetuated in the stereotyped official
lists, were enumerated in the list of his vanquished foes
side by side with Assyria. It was a mere piece of bravado,
for never, even when victorious, did he set foot on Syrian
soil ; but all the same the victory had caused the invading
host to retire, and the fame of this exploit, spreading
throughout Asia, was not without its effect on the minds
of the inhabitants. The island of Tyre had never officially
recognised the Assyrian suzerainty. The Tyrians had
lived in peace since the defeat of Elulai, and had maintained
constant commercial relations with the continent without
interfering in active politics : they had, perhaps, even been
permitted to establish some settlements on the coast of the
mainland. Their king, Baal, now deemed the moment a
propitious one for coming forward and recovering his lost
territory, and since the Greek princes of Cyprus had ranged
themselves under the hegemony of Assyria, he thought
he could best counterbalance their influence by seeking
support from Egypt, whose ancient greatness was apparently
reviving. He therefore concluded an alliance with Taharqa, 1

1 The alliance of Baal with Taharqa is mentioned in the fragment of the
Annals, under the da*e of year X., and the name Bual is still decipherable
amid the defaced lines which contained the account of events which took
place before that year. I think we may reasonably assign the first understand
ing between the two sovereigns, either to the actual year of the first campaign
or to the following year.

MANASSEH CARRIED CAPTIVE TO BABYLOX 149

and it would be no cause for astonishment if we should
one day discover that Judah had followed his example.
Hezekiah had devoted his declining years to religious
reformation, and the organisation of his kingdom under the
guidance of Isaiah or the group of prophets of which Isaiah
was the leader. Judah had increased in population, and
had quickly recovered its prosperity ; when Hezekiah died,
about 686 B.C., it had entirely regained its former vigour,
but the memory of the disasters of 701 was still sufficiently
fresh in the minds of the people to prevent the change of
sovereign being followed by a change of policy. Manasseh,
who succeeded his father, though he did not walk, as
Hezekiah had done, in the ways of the Lord, at least
remained loyal to his Assyrian masters. It is, however,
asserted that he afterwards rebelled, though his reason for
doing so is not explained, and that he was carried captive
to Babylon as a punishment for this crime : he succeeded,
nevertheless, in regaining favour, and was reinstated at
Jerusalem on condition of not repeating his offence. If this
statement is true, as I believe it to be, it was probably
after the Egyptian campaign of 673 B.C. 1 that his conspiracy

The fact of Manasseli s captivity is only known to us from the testimony
of 2 Ghron. xxxiii. 10-13, and most modern critics consider it apocryphal.
The moral development which accompanies the narrative, and the conversion
which follows it, are certainly later additions, but the story may have some
foundation in fact ; we shall see later on that Necho I., King of Sais, was
taken prisoner, led into captivity, and received again into favour in the
same way as Manasseh is said to have been. The exile to Babylon,
which at one time appeared to demonstrate the unauthenticity of the
passage, would be rather in favour of its authenticity. Esarhaddon was
King of Babylon during the whole of his reign, and the great works
which he executed in that city obliged him, we know, to transport

150 THE POWER OP ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

with Baal took place. The Assyrian governors of the
neighbouring provinces easily crushed these attempts at
independence, but, the islands of Tyre being secure from
attack, they were obliged to be content with establishing
a series of redoubts along the coast, and with prohibiting
the Tyrians from having access to the mainland.

The promptitude of their action quenched the hopes of
the Egyptian party and prevented the spread of the revolt.
Esarhaddon was, nevertheless, obliged to put off the
fulfilment of his schemes longer than he desired : complica
tions arose on his northern frontiers, near the sources of
the Tigris, which distracted his attention from the
intrigues taking place on the banks of the Nile. Urartu,
hard pressed by the Cimmerians and Scythians, had lived
for a quarter of a century in a condition of sullen peace
with Assyria, and its kings avoided anything which could
bring them into conflict with their hereditary rival.
Argistis II. had been succeeded by one of his sons, Eusas
II., and both of them had been more intent upon
strengthening their kingdom than on extending its area ;
they had rebuilt their capital, Dhuspas, on a magnificent
scale, and from the security of their rocky home they
watched the course of events without taking any part in it,
unless forced to do so by circumstances. Andaria, chief of
Lubdi, one of the remote mountain districts, so difficult
of access that it always retained its independence in spite
of frequent attacks, had seized Shupria, a province which
had been from very early times subject to the sovereigns

thither a large proportion of the prisoners whom he brought back from
his wars.

ANDARIA PLEADS FOR MERCY 151

of Nineveh, and was the first to he colonised by them.
The inhabitants, forgetful of their origin, had yielded
voluntarily to Andaria ; but this prince, after receiving
their homage, was seized with alarm at his own audacity.
He endeavoured to strengthen his position by an alliance
with the Cimmerians, 1 and the spirit of insubordination
which he aroused spread beyond the Euphrates ; Mugallu
of Milid, a king of the Tabal, resorted to such violent
measures that Esarhaddon was alarmed lest the wild
mountaineers of the Taurus should pour down upon
the plain of Kui and lay it waste. The danger would
indeed have been serious had all these tribes risen simul
taneously ; but the Cimmerians were detained in Asia
Minor by their own concerns, 2 and Mugallu, when he saw
the Assyrian troops being concentrated to bring him to
reason, remained quiet. The extension of Lubdi was not
likely to meet with favour in the eyes of Rusas ; he did not
respond to the advances made to him, and Esarhaddon
opened his campaign against the rebels without having
to dread the intervention of Urartu. Andaria, besieged in
his capital of Ubbumi, laid aside his royal robes, and,
assuming the ragged garments of a slave, appeared upon
the ramparts and pleaded for mercy in a voice choked with
tears : " Shupria, the country which has sinned against
thee, will yield to thee of her own accord ; place thy
officers over her, she will vow obedience to thee ; impose

1 This seems, indeed, to be proved by a tablet in which Esarhaddon,
addressing the god Shamash, asks him if the Cimmerians or Urartians will
unite with a certain prince who can be no other than the King of Shupria.

2 It was about this time they were dealing the death-blow to the king
dom of Phrygia.

152 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

on her a ransom and an annual tribute for ever. I am a
robber, and for the crime I have committed I will make
amends fifty-fold." Esarhaddon would listen to no terms
before a breach had be^n effected in the city walls. This
done, he pardoned the prince who had taken refuge in the
citadel, but resumed possession of Shupria : its inhabitants
were mercilessly punished, being condemned to slavery,
and their lands and goods divided among new colonists.
Many Urartians were numbered among the captives:
these Esarhaddon separated from the rest, and sent back
to Rusas as a reward for his having remained neutral.
All this had barely occcupied the space of one month,
the month of Tebet. The firstfruits of the spoil
reserved for Uruk had already reached that town by
the month Kislev, and the year was not so far
advanced as to render further undertakings impossible,
when the death of the queen, on the 5th Adar, sus
pended all warlike enterprises. The last months of the
year were given up to mourning, and the whole of 671 B.C.
passed without further action. The Ethiopian king was
emboldened by this inactivity on the part of his foe to
renew his intrigues with Syria with redoubled energy ; at
one moment, indeed, the Philistines of Ashkelon, secretly
instigated, seemed on the point of revolt. 1 They held
themselves, however, in check, and Esarhaddon, reassured
as to their attitude, entered into negotiations with the

1 Ashkelon is mentioned in two of the prayers in which Esarhaddon
consults Shamash on the subject of his intended campaign in Egypt ; he
seems to fear lest that city and the Bedawin of the Idumsean desert should
espouse the cause of the King of Ethiopia.

FIRST INVASION OF EGYPT 153

sheikhs of the Arab tribes, and purchased their assistance
to cross the desert of Sinai. He bade them assemble at
Eaphia, at the western extremity of Palestine, each chief
bringing all the camels he could command, and as many
skins of water as their beasts could carry : this precaution,
a wise one at any time, might secure the safety of the
army in case Taharqa should have filled up the wells which
marked the stages in the caravan route. 1 When all was
ready, Esarhaddon consulted the oracle of Shamash, and,
on receiving a favourable reply from the god, left Nineveh
in the beginning of the month Nisan, 670 B.C., to join the
invading army in Syria. 2 He made a detour in order to
inspect the lines of forts which his generals had established
along the coast opposite Tyre, and strengthened their
garrisons to prevent Baal from creating a diversion in the
rear of his base of operations ; he then proceeded south
wards to the neighbourhood of Aphek, in the territory of
the tribe of Simeon. The news which there met him must
doubtless have informed him that the Bedawin had been
won over in the interval by the emissaries of Taharqa, and
that he would run great risk by proceeding with his
campaign before bringing them back to a sense of their

1 This information is furnished by the fragment of the Annals. The
Assyrian text introduces this into the narrative in such a manner that it
would appear as if these negotiations were carried on at the very commence
ment of the campaign ; it is, however, more probable that they were con
cluded beforehand, as occurred later on, in the time of Cambyses, when the
Persians invaded Egypt.

2 The published texts refer to the second Egyptian campaign of Esar
haddon. The reply of the god is not easy to interpret, but it was certainly
favourable, since the expedition took place.

154 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

duty. On leaving Aphek l he consequently turned south
wards, and plunged into the heart of the desert, as if he
had renounced all designs upon Egypt for that season,
and was hent only on restoring order in Milukhkha and
Magan before advancing further. For six weeks he
marched in short stages, without other water than the
supply borne, in accordance with his commands, by the
Arab camels, passing through tracts of desert infested by
strange birds and double-headed serpents ; when he had at
length dispersed the bands which had endeavoured to
oppose his advance, he suddenly turned in a north-westerly
direction, and, following the dry bed of the torrent of
Muzur, at length reached Eaphia. From thence he did
not select the usual route, which follows the coast-line and
leads to Pelusium, a place which he may have feared was
too well defended, but he again pressed forward across the
sands of the desert, and in the first days of Tammuz
reached the cultivated land of the Delta by way of the
Wady Tumilat. The frontier garrisons, defeated on the 3rd
of Tammuz near Ishkhupri, 2 retreated in good order.

1 The defaced name of the country in which this Aphek was situated
was read as Samirina and translated " Samaria " by the first editor. This
interpretation has been adopted by most historians, who have seen in Aphek
the town of this name belonging to the western portion of Manasseh. Budge
read it Samina, and this reading, verified by Craig, gave Winckler the idea
of identifying Samina or Simina with the tribe of Simeon, and Aphek with
the Aphekah (Josh. xv. 53) in the mountains of Judah.

2 The text on the stele at Zinjirli gives a total of fifteen days march
from Ishkhupri to Memphis, while Pinches Balyl. Chron. indicates three
battles as having been fought on the 3rd, 16th, and 18th of Tammuz, and
the taking of Memphis as occurring on the 22nd of the same month. If
fifteen days is precisely accurate for the length of march, Esarhaddon would
have reached Ishkhupri about the 27th of Sivan.

EGYPT AS AN ASSYRIAN PROVINCE 155

Taharqa, hastening to their succour, disputed the
ground inch by inch, and engaged the invaders in
several conflicts, two at least of which, fought on the
16th and 18th of Taminuz, were regular pitched battles,
but in every case the Assyrian tactics triumphed in
spite of the dashing onslaught of the Egyptians ;
Memphis succumbed on the 22nd, after an assault lasting
merely a few hours, and was mercilessly sacked. The
Ethiopian king, with his army decimated and exhausted,
gave up the struggle, and beat a hasty retreat south
wards. The attack had been made with such rapidity
that he had had no time to remove his court from the
" palace of the White Wall " to the Said ; the queen, there
fore, together with other women of less exalted rank, fell
into the hands of the conqueror, besides the crown-prince,
Ushana-horu, several younger sons and daughters, and
such of the children of Sabaco and Shabitoku as resided
at court. But the victory had cost the Assyrians dearly,
and the enemy still appeared to them so formidable that
Esarhaddon prudently abstained from pursuing him up
the Nile Valley. He favourably received those feudal
lords and petty kings who presented themselves to pay
him homage, and confirmed them in possession of their
fiefs, but he placed over them Assyrian governors and
imposed new official names on their cities ; thus Athribis
was officially called Limir-pateshi-assur, and other cities
received the names Assur-makan-tishkul, Bit-marduk-sha-
assur-taru, Shaimuk-assur. He further imposed on them
a heavy annual tribute of more than six talents of gold
and six hundred talents of silver, besides robes and woven

156 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

i

stuffs, wine, skins, horses, sheep, and asses; and having
accomplished this, he retraced his steps towards the
north-east with immense booty and innumerable convoys
of prisoners. The complete defeat of the Ethiopian power
filled not only Esarhaddon himself hut all Asia with

SOUTHERN PROMONTORY AT THE MOUTH OF THE NAHR-EL-KELB. 1

astonishment. His return to Nineveh was a triumphal
progress ; travelling through Syria by short stages, he
paraded his captives and trophies before the peoples and
princes who had so long relied on the invincible power
of the Pharaoh. Esarhaddon s predecessors had more
than once inscribed the record of their campaigns on the
rocks of the Nahr-el-Kelb, beside the bas-relief engraved

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph recently brought back by
Lortet.

RESULTS OF THE EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN

157

the

turning

there by Eamses II., and it had been no small grati
fication to their pride thus to place themselves on a
footing of equality with one of the most illustrious heroes

>

of the ancient
Egyptian empire.
The footpath
which skirts the
southern bank of
river, and
to the

*_/

south is con
tinued along the
seashore, was bor
dered by the great
stelse in which,
one after another,
they had thought
to immortalise
their glory ; fol
lowing their ex
ample, Esarhad-
don was in like

manner pleased
to celebrate his
prowess, and ex-

STELE OF ESAEHADDOX AT THE KAIIK-EL-KELK. 1

hibit the ancient lords of the world subjugated to his will.
He erected numerous triumphal monuments along his route,
and the stele which was discovered at one of the gates of

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph brought back by
Lortet.

158

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Zinjirli is, doubtless, but an example of those which ho
erected in other important cities. He is represented on
the Zinjirli stele standing erect, while at his feet are two

kneeling prisoners, whom he is
holding by a bridle of cord
fastened to metal rings passed
through their lips ; these figures
represent Baal of Tyre and
Taharqa of Napata, the latter
with the tira3us on his forehead.
As a matter of fact, these kings
were safe beyond his reach,
one surrounded by the sea, the
other above the cataracts, and
the people were well aware that
they did not form part of the
band of prisoners which defiled
before their eyes ; but they
were accustomed to the vain
and extravagant boastings of
their conquerors, and these very
exaggerations enabled them to
understand more fully the ex
tent of the victory. Esarhaddon
thenceforward styled himself

King of Egypt, King of the Kings of Egypt, of the Said
and of Kush, so great was his pride at having trampled
underfoot the land of the Delta. And, in fact, Egypt had,

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of the original in the
Berlin Museum.

STELE OF ZINJIRLI. 1

RESULTS OF THE EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN 159

for a century, been the only one of the ancient Eastern
states which had always eluded the grasp of Assyria. The
Elamites had endured disastrous defeats, which had cost
them some of their provinces ; the Urartians had been
driven back into their mountains, and no longer attempted
to emerge from them ; Babylon had nearly been annihilated
in her struggles for independence ; while the Khati, the
Phoenicians, Damascus, and Israel had been absorbed one
after another in the gradual extension of Ninevite supre
macy. Egypt, although she had had a hand in all their
wars and revolutions, had never herself paid the penalty of
her intrigues, and even when she had sometimes risked
her troops on the battle-fields of Palestine, her disasters
had not cost her more than the loss of a certain number
of men : having once retired to the banks of the Nile,
no one had dared to follow, and the idea had gained
credence among her enemies as well as among her friends
that Egypt was effectually protected by the desert from
every attack. The victory of Esarhaddon proved that
she was no more invulnerable than the other kingdoms
of the world, and that before a bold advance the obstacles,
placed by nature in the path of an invader, disappeared ;
the protecting desert had been crossed, the archers and
chariots of Egypt had fled before the Assyrian cavalry
and pikemen, her cities had endured the ignominy and
misery of being taken by storm, and the wives and
daughters of her Pharaohs had been carried off into
servitude in common with the numerous princesses of
Elam and Syria of that day. Esarhaddon filled his palaces
with furniture and woven stuffs, with vases of precious

100 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

metal and sculptured ivories, with glass ornaments and
statuettes looted from Memphis : his workers in marble
took inspiration from the sphinxes of Egypt to modify
the winged, human-headed lions upon which the columns
of their palaces rested, and the plans of his architects
became more comprehensive at the mere announcement
of such a vast amount of spoil. The palace they had
begun to build at Nineveh, on the ruins of an ancient
edifice, already surpassed all previous architectural efforts.
The alabaster quarries of the Assyrian mountains and the
forests of Phoenicia had alike been put under contribu
tion to face the walls of its state apartments ; twenty-two
chiefs of the country of the Khati, of Phoenicia, and of
the Mediterranean littoral among them the Greek kings
of Cyprus had vied with one another in supplying
Esarhaddon with great beams of pine, cedar, and cypress
for its construction. The ceilings were of cedar suppor
ted by pillars of cypress-wood encircled by silver and
iron ; stone lions and bulls stood on either side of the
gates, and the doors were made of cedar and cypress,
incrusted or overlaid with iron, silver and ivory. The
treasures of Egypt enabled Esarhaddon to complete this
palace and begin a new one at Calah, where the build
ings erected somewhat hurriedly by Tiglath-pileser III.
had already fallen into ruin. Some of the slabs on which
the latter conqueror had engraved his Annals, and re
counted the principal episodes of his campaigns, were
removed and transferred to the site selected by Esar
haddon, and one of the surfaces of each was pared down
in order to receive new pictures and fresh inscriptions.

RIVAL CLAIMANTS TO THE THROXE

161

They had, however, hardly been placed in the stone
mason s hands when the work was interrupted. 1 It may
have been that Esarhaddon had to suspend all his
operations while putting down some conspiracy. At any
rate, we know that
in 669 B.C. many high
personages of his
court were seized and
executed. The ques
tion of the succession
to the throne was still
undecided ; Sinidina-
bal, the son whom
Esarhaddon had pre
viously desig
nated as his heir
presumptive, was
dead, and the
people feared lest
he should choose
from among his
other sons some
prince who had
nottheir interests
at heart. The king s affection for Babylon had certainly
aroused jealousy and anxiety among his Assyrian subjects,

1 The date of the building of the palace at Calah is furnished by the
inscriptions, in which Esarhaddon assumes the title of King of Egypt.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from the alabaster sculpture reproduced by
Layard.

VOL. VIII. M

ASSYRIAN SPHINX IN EGYPTIAN STYLE SUPPORTING
THE BASE OF A COLOIN. 2

162 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

and perhaps some further tokens of preference made them
uneasy lest he should select Shamash-shumukfn, one of his
children who manifested the same tendencies, and who
was, moreover, the son of a Babylonian wife. Most of
the nobles who had been led to join the conspiracy paid
for their indiscretion with their heads, but their opposi
tion gave the sovereign cause for reflection, and decided
him to modify his schemes. Convinced that it was
impossible to unite Babylon and Nineveh permanently
under the same ruler, he reluctantly decided to divide
his kingdom into two parts Assyria, the strongest portion,
falling naturally to his eldest son, Assur-bani-pal, while
Babylonia was assigned to Shamash-shumukin, on con
dition of his paying homage to his brother as suzerain. 1
The best method to ensure his wishes being carried into
effect was to prepare their way for the fulfilment while he
was still alive ; and rebellions which broke out about this
time beyond the isthmus afforded a good opportunity for
so doing.

Egypt was at this period divided into twenty states of
various dimensions, very nearly the same as had existed a
century before, when Pionkhi had, for the first time,
brought the whole country under Ethiopian rule. 2 In the
south, the extensive Theban province occupied both sides
of the river from Assuan to Thinis and Khemmis. It. was
nominally governed by Amenertas or her daughter,

1 Winckler considers that Assur-bani-pal was the leader of the con
spiracy, and that he obliged his father to recognise him as heir to the crown
of Assyria, and to associate him on the throne.

2 The list of the principalities in the time of Esarhaddon and Assur-
bani-pal is found on the cylinders of Assur-bani-pal.

THE REVOLT OF EGYPT 163

Shapenuaplt, but the administration was, as usual,
entrusted to a member of the priestly college, at that time
to Montuinihait, Count of Thebes, and fourth prophet of
Arnon. 1 The four principalities of Thinis, Siut, Hermopolis,
and Heracleopolis separated it from the small kingdom of
Memphis and Sais, and each of the regions of the Delta was
divided into one or two fiefs, according to the number and
importance of the towns it contained. In the south,
Thebes was too directly under the influence of Ethiopia to
be able to exercise an independent policy with regard to
the rest of the country. In the north, two families
contested the supremacy more or less openly. One of
them, whose hereditary domains included the Arabian, and
parts of the surrounding nomes, was then represented by a
certain Pakruru. He had united under his banner the
numerous petty chiefs of the eastern side of the Delta, the
heirs of the ancient dynasties of Tanis and Bubastis, and
his energy or ability must have made a good impression on
the minds of his contemporaries, for they handed down his
memory to their successors, who soon metamorphosed him
into a popular legendary hero, famed both for his valour
and wisdom. The nobles of the western nomes acknow
ledged as their overlords the regents of Sais, the
descendants of that Bocchoris who had for a short while
brought the whole valley of the Nile under his sway.
Sabaco, having put his rival to death, had installed in his
hereditary domains an Ethiopian named Ammeris, but this

1 The Assyrian name of this personage, spelt first Mantimiankhi, has
been more accurately transcribed Mantimikhi. The identification with the
Montumihait of the Theban documents, is now generally adopted.

164 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Ainmeris had disappeared from the scene about the same
time as his patron, in 704 B.C., and after him three princes
at least had succeeded to the throne, namely, Stephinates,
Nekhepsos, and Necho. 1 Stephinates had died about 680
B.C., without accomplishing anything which was w r orth
recording. Nekhepsos had had no greater opportunities of
distinguishing himself than had fallen to the lot of his
father, and yet legends grew up round his name as round
that of Pakruru : he was reputed to have been a great
soothsayer, astrologist, and magician, and medical treatises
were ascribed to him, and almanacs much esteemed by the
superstitious in the Bornan period. 2 Necho had already
occupied the throne for three or four years when the
invasion of 670 B.C. delivered him from the Ethiopian
supremacy. He is represented as being brave, energetic,
and enterprising, ready to hazard everything in order to
attain the object towards which the ambition of his
ancestors had been tending for a century past, namely, to
restore unity to the ancient kingdom under the rule of the
house of Sais. The extent of his realm, and, above all, the

1 The lists of Eusebius give the series Ammeres, Stephinates, Nekhepsos,
Necho I., but Lepsius displaced Ammeres and identified him with the queen
Amenertas ; others have thought to recognise in him Miamun Pi6nkhi, or
Tanuatamanu, the successor of Taharqa. He must, however, be left in this
place in the list, and we may perhaps consider him as the founder of the
XXVI th dynasty. If the number of seven years for the reign of Stephinates
is adopted, we must suppose either that Manetho passed over the name of a
prince at the beginning of the XXVI th dynasty, or that Ainmeris was on]y
enthroned at Memphis after the death of Sabaco ; but the lists of the
Syncellus and of Sothis assign 27 years to the reign of Stephinates.

2 The astrological works of Nekhepsos are cited, among others, by Pliny,
and it is probably he whom a Greek papyrus of the Salt Collection mentions
under the name of Nekheus.

LAST DAYS OF ESARH ADDON 165

possession of Memphis, gave him a real superiority, and
Esarhaddon did not hesitate to esteem him above his
competitors ; the Ninevite scribes placed him in the first
rank, and he heads the list of the Egyptian vassals. He
soon had an opportunity of proving his devotion to his
foreign suzerain. Taharqa did not quietly accept his
defeat, and Egypt looked to him to be revenged on the
Assyrian as soon as he should have reorganised his army.
He once more, accordingly, took the field in the middle of
669 B.C. ; the barons of the Said rallied to his standard
without hesitation, and he soon re-entered the " White
Wall," but there his advance was arrested. Necho and the
neighbouring chiefs of the Delta, held in check by the
presence of Semitic garrisons, did not venture to proclaim
themselves on his side, and awaited under arms the arrival
of Assyrian reinforcements. 1 Esarhaddon, in spite of failing
health, assumed command of the troops, and before leaving
home carried out the project to which the conspiracy of the
preceding year had given rise ; he assigned the government
of Babylon to Shamash-shumukin, and solemnly designated
Assur-bani-pal as the heir to Assyria proper, and to the
suzerainty over the whole empire. 2 On the 12th of lyyar,

The first Egyptian campaign of Assur-bani-pal is also the last cam
paign of Esarhaddon, and Assur-bani-pal appropriated all the earlier incidents
of it, some of which belong to the sole reign of his father, and some to the
few weeks in which he shared the throne with him.

2 The association of Assur-bani-pal with his father on the throne was
pointed out by G. Smith, who thought he could fix the date about 673 B.C.,
three or four years before the death of Esarhaddon. Tiele showed that
Assur-bani-pal was then only made viceroy, and assigned his association in
the sovereignty to the year 671 or 670 B.C., about the time of the second
Egyptian campaign, while Hommel brought it down to 669. Winckler has,

166 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

668 B.C., on the day of the feast of Gula, he presented their
new lord to all the inhabitants of Assyria, both small and
great, who had assembled to be present at the ceremony,
which ended in the installation of the prince in the palace
of Bitriduti, reserved for the heirs-apparent. A few weeks
later Esarhaddon set out for Egypt, but his malady became
more serious on the journey, and he died on the lOfcli of
Arakhsamna, in the twelfth year of his reign. 1 When we
endeavour to conjure up his image before us, we fancy we
are right in surmising that he was not cast in the ordinary
mould of Assyrian monarchs. The history of his campaigns
shows that he was as active and resolute as Assur-nazir-pal
and Shalmaneser III., but he did not add to these good
qualities their inflexible harshness towards their subjects,
nor their brutal treatment of conquered foes. Circum
stances in which they would have shown themselves
merciless, he seized upon as occasions for clemency, and if
massacres and executions are recorded among the events of
his reign, at least he does not class them among the most
important : the records of his wars do not continually speak
of rebels flayed alive, kings impaled before the gates of
their cities, and whole populations decimated by fire and
sword. Of all the Assyrian conquerors, he is almost the

with much reason, placed the date in 668 B.C. The Assyrian documents do
not mention the coronation of Shamash-shumukin, for Assur-bani-pal after
wards affected to consider his brother a mere viceroy, appointed by himself
after the death of his father Esarhaddon ; but an examination of all the
circumstances has shown that the enthronement of Shamash-shumukin at
Babylon was on a par with that of Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh, and that both
owed their elevation to their father.

1 Arakhsamna corresponds to the Jewish Marcheswan, and to our month
of May.

ASSUR-BAXI-PAL AND SHAMASH-SHUMUKIN 167

only one for whom the historian can feel any regard, or
from the study of whose reign he passes on with regret to
pursue that of others in due course.

As soon as Esarhaddon had passed away, the separation
of the two parts of the empire which he had planned was
effected almost automatically : Assur-bani-pal proclaimed
himself King of Assyria, and Shamash-shumukin, in like
manner, King of Babylon. One fact, which seems in
significant enough to us when we read it in the Annals,
but was decisive in the eyes of their contemporaries,
sanctioned the transformation thus accomplished : Bel
and the gods of Accad quitted Assur in the month of
lyyar and returned to their resting-place in Babylon. The
restoration of the images to their own country became
necessary as soon as it was decided to have a king in
Karduniash, even though he were an Assyrian. To enable
him. to exercise legitimate authority, he must have cele
brated the rites and " taken the hands of Bel," but it
was a question whether this obligation could be fulfilled
if Bel remained a prisoner in the neighbouring capital.
Assur-bani-pal believed for a moment that this difficulty
could be obviated, and consulted Shamash on this delicate
question: "Shamash-shumukin, the son of Esarhaddon,
the King of Assyria, can he in this year take the hands
of Bel, the mighty lord Marduk, in this very city, and
then go to Babylon with the favour of Bel ! If that
would be pleasing to thy great divinity and to the mighty
lord Marduk, thy great divinity must know it." The reply
was not favourable, and Shamash gave it as his opinion
that Bel could not act as a sovereign lord while still

168

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

languishing in prison in a city which was not his own.
Assur-bani-pal had to resign himself to the release of
his captive, and he did it with a good grace. He pro
ceeded in pomp to the temple of Assur, where Marduk

was shut up, and humbly
entreated the exiled deity
to vouchsafe to return to
his own country. " Think
on Babylon, which thou
didst bring to nought in the
rage of thy heart, and turn
thy face towards the temple
of J&l-sagilla, the lofty seat
of thy divinity ! Revisit
thy city which thou hast
forsaken to inhabit a place
which is not worthy of thee,
and do thou thyself,
Marduk, lord of the gods,
give the command to return
to Babylon." The statue
set out on its journey, and
was escorted by a solemn
procession headed by the two kings. The gods, by one
accord, came forth from their cities and saluted the traveller
as he passed by Beltis of Agade, Nebo of Borsippa,
Shamash of Sippara, and Nirgal. At length he reached
his beloved city, and entered E-sagilla in the midst
of an immense throng of people. The kings headed

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lehmann.

ASSCR-BAXI-PAL AS A BEAKER OF
OFFERINGS. 1

SEPARATION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS

169

the cortege, and the delighted multitude joined their two
names with that of the god in their acclamations : it was
a day never to be forgotten. Assur-bani-pal, in his
capacity of suzerain, opened the sacred edifice, and then
presented his brother, who there
upon "took the hands of Bel."
A quarter of a century had not
passed since the victorious
Sennacherib had, as he thought,
inflicted a mortal blow on the
one power which stood in the
way of Assyria s supremacy in
Western Asia ; already, in spite
of his efforts, the city had sprung
up from its ruins as vigorous as
ever, and his sons and grandsons
had felt themselves irresistibly
drawn to resuscitate that which
their ancestors had desired to
annihilate irrevocably. Babylon
had rebuilt her palaces, her walls,
and her temples ; she had re
ceived back her gods without a

war, and almost without any agitation, by the mere force of
the prestige she exercised over all around her, and even over
her conquerors. As a matter of fact, she had not regained
her former position, and was still depressed and enfeebled
by the blow which had laid her low; in addition to this,
her king was an Assyrian, and a vassal of Assyria, but

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lehrnann.

8HAMASH-8HUHT7KIN AS A BEAKEK
OF OFFERINGS. 1

170 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZEXITH

nevertheless lie was her own king, and hers alone. Her in
dependence was already half regained. Shamash-shumukin
established his court at Babylon, and applied himself from
the outset to restore, as far as he was able, the material
and moral forces of his kingdom. Assur-bani-pal, on his
side, met with no opposition from his subjects, but prudence
cautioned him not to estrange them ; the troubles of the
preceding year were perhaps not so completely suppressed
as to prevent the chiefs who had escaped punishment from
being encouraged by the change of sovereign to renew
their intrigues. The king, therefore, remained in Nineveh
to inaugurate his rule, and confided to his generals the
charge of conducting the expeditions which had been
undertaken during his father s lifetime. 1 One of these
undertakings was unimportant. Tanda! of Kirbit, a petty
chief, was continually engaged in harassing the inhabitants
of Yamutbal; he bore down upon them every year, and,
after dealing a blow, retreated to his hiding-place in the
mountains. He was attacked in his stronghold, and
carried away captive with all his people into Egypt, at
the furthest extremity of the empire, to serve in Assyrian
garrisons in the midst of the fellahin. 2

1 In the numerous documents relating to the reign of Assur-bani-pal the
facts are arranged in geographical order, not by the dates of the successive
expeditions, and the chronological order of the campaigns is all the more
difficult to determine accurately, as Pinches Babylonian Chronicle fails us
after the beginning of this reign, immediately after the mention of the
above-mentioned war with Kirbit. Even the Eponym Canon is only accurate
down to 666 B.C. ; in that year there is a break, and although we possess for
the succeeding period more than forty names of eponyms, their classification
is not at present absolutely certain.

2 The expedition against Kirbit is omitted in certain documents ; it is

DEFEAT OF TAHARQA 171

Meanwhile, the army which Esarhaddon had been
leading against Taharqa pursued its course under command
of the Tartan. 1 Syria received it submissively, and the
twenty-two kings who still possessed a shadow of autonomy
in the country sent assurances of their devotion to the new
monarch : even Yakinlu, King of Arvad, who had aroused
suspicion by frequent acts of insubordination, 2 thought
twice before rebelling against his terrible suzerain, and
joined the rest in paying both homage and tribute. Cyprus
and also Phoenicia remained faithful to their allegiance,
and, what was of still more consequence, the states which
lay nearest to Egypt Philistia, Judah, Moab, and Ammon ;
the Assyrians were thus able to push forward to the Delta
without losing time in repressing rebellions along their
route. The Ethiopians had entrenched themselves at
Karbanlti ; 3 they were, however, once more defeated, and

inserted in the others in the fourth place, between the wars in Asia Minor
and the campaign against the Mannai. The place assigned to it in the Sab.
Cliron. quite in the beginning of the reign, is confirmed by a fragment of a
tablet quoted by Winckler. Perhaps it was carried out by a Babylonian
army : although Assur-bani-pal claimed the glory of it, by reason of his
suzerainty over Karduniash.

1 The text of Tablet K 267 5-K 228 of the Brit. Mus., states distinctly
that the Tartan commanded the first army.

2 Assur-bani-pal, acting in the name of his father, Esarhaddon, King of
Assyria, had consulted Shamash on the desirability of sending troops against
Arvad : the prince of this city is called Ikkalu, which is a variant of
Yakinlu. Winckler concluded that the campaign against Arvad took place
before 668 B.C., in the reign of Esarhaddon. It seems to me more natural
to place it on the return from Egypt, when the people of Arvad were
demoralised by the defeat of the Pharaoh whose alliance they had hoped for.

3 I had compared Karbaniti with the Qarbina mentioned in the Great
Harris Papyrus, and this identification was accepted by most Egyptologists,
even after Brugsch recognised in Qarbina the name of Canopus or a town

172 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

left so many of their soldiers dead upon the field, that
Taharqa had not sufficient troops left to defend Memphis.
He retreated upon Thebes, where he strongly fortified
himself; but the Tartan had not suffered less than his
adversary, and he would have been unable to pursue him,
had not reinforcements promptly reached him. The Eab-
shakeh, who had been despatched from Nineveh with some
Assyrian troops, had summoned to his aid the principal
Syrian feudal chiefs, who, stimulated by the news of the
victories achieved on the banks of the Nile, placed
themselves unreservedly at his disposal. He ordered their
vessels to proceed along the coast as far as the Delta,
where he purposed to collect a fleet to ascend the river,
while their troops augmented the force already under his
command. The two Assyrian generals, the Tartan and the
Kabshakeh, quitted Memphis, probably in the early part
of 667 B.C., and, cautiously advancing southwards, covered
the distance separating the two Egyptian capitals in a
steady march of forty days. When the Assyrians had
advanced well up the valley, the princes of the Delta
thought the opportunity had arrived to cut them off by
a single bold stroke. They therefore opened cautious
negotiations with the Ethiopian king, and proposed an
arrangement which should secure their independence :
" We will divide the country between us, and neither of
us shall exercise authority over the other." However

near Canopus. It has been contested by Steindorff, and, in fact, Karbaniti
could not be identified with Canopus, any more than the Qarbina of the
Harris Papyrus ; its site must be looked for in the eastern or central part
of the Delta.

THE SECOND DEFEAT OF TAHARQA 173

secretly these negotiations were conducted, they were
certain to come to the knowledge of the Assyrian generals :
the couriers were intercepted ; and discovering from the
despatches the extent of the danger, the Assyrians seized
as many of the leaders of the league as they could. As a
warning they sacked Sais, Mendes, and Tanis, demolishing
the fortifications, and flaying or impaling the principal
citizens before their city gates ; they then sent two of the
intriguing chiefs, Necho and Sharludari of Pelusium, bound
hand and foot with chains, to Nineveh. Pakruru, of the
Arabian nome, managed, however, to escape them. Taharqa,
thus bereft of his allies, was no longer in a condition to
repel the invader : he fled to Ethiopia, abandoning Thebes
to its fate. The city was ransomed by despoiling the
temple of Amon of half its treasures : Montumihalt trans
ferred his allegiance unhesitatingly to Assur-bani-pal, and
the whole of Egypt from the Mediterranean to the first
cataract once more became Assyrian territory. The victory
was so complete that Assur-bani-pal thought he might
without risk show clemency to his prisoners. He summoned
them to his presence, and there, instead of putting out their
eyes or subjecting them to some horrible form of torture,
he received them back into favour, and confirmed Necho
in the possession of all the honours which Esarhaddon had
conceded to him. He clothed him in a mantle of honour,
and bestowed on him a straight-bladed sword with an iron
scabbard ornamented with gold, engraved with his names
and titles, besides rings, gold bracelets, chariots, horses,
and mules ; in short, all the appurtenances of royalty.
Not content with restoring to him the cities of Sais and

171

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Memphis, he granted him the fief of Athrlbis for his eldest
son, Psamrnetichus. Moreover, he neglected no measure
likely to show his supremacy. Athrlbis received the new
name of Limir-patesi-assur, may the high priest of Assur be

MOXTUMIHAIT, PRIXCE OF THEBES. 1

glorious, and Sais that of Kar-bel-matati, the fortress of the
lord of the countries. Psammetichus was called Nebo-
shezib-anni, Nebo, deliver me, and residents were installed
at his court and that of his father, who were entrusted with
the surveillance of their conduct, and the task of keeping

1 Drawn by Boudier, from the photograph by Miss Benson. It is not
quite certain that this statue represents Montumihuit, as the inscription is
wanting : the circumstances of the discovery, however, render it very
probable.

RECOXSTITUTION OF THE EGYPTIAN PROVINCE 175

them to the path of duty : Necho, thus well guarded,
thenceforward never faltered in his allegiance.

The subjection of Egypt reacted on Syria and Asia
Minor. Of the only two states still existing along the
Phoenician seaboard, one, namely Tyre, had been in revolt
for many years, and the other, Arvad, showed symptoms of
disaffection. Esarhaddon,
from lack of a sufficient fleet,
had never been able to sub
due the former, but he had
interrupted the communica
tions of the island with the
mainland, and the blockade,
which was constantly in
creasing in strictness, had
already lasted for four years.
On receipt of the news from
Egypt, Baal realised that
further resistance was hope
less ; he therefore delivered

up to the victor his heir- apparent, Yahi-melek, and one of
his daughters, together with other hostages, besides silver,
gold, and wood, and intreated for pardon. Assur-bani-pal
left him in possession of his kingdom on condition of pay
ing the regular tribute, but Yaklnlu, the King of Arvad,
met with harsher treatment. In vain did he give up his
sons, his daughters, and all his treasures ; his intractability
had worn out the patience of his suzerain : he was carried
away captive to Nineveh, and replaced by Azibaal, his eldest

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief in the British Museum.

PSAMMETICHUS.

176 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

son. Two chiefs of the Taurus Mugallu of Tahal, who
had given trouble to Esarhaddon in the last years of his
life, and Sanda-sarme of Cilicia purchased immunity from
the punishment due for various acts of brigandage, by gifts
of horses, and by handing over each of them a daughter,
richly dowered, to the harem of the king at Mneveh. But
these were incidents of slight moment, and their very
insignificance proves how completely resigned to foreign
domination the nations of the Mediterranean coast had
now become. Vassal kings, princes, cities, peasants of the
plain or shepherds of the mountains, all who were subject
directly or indirectly to Assyria, had almost ceased to
imagine that a change of sovereign afforded them any
chance of regaining their independence. They no longer
considered themselves the subjects of a conqueror whose
death might free them from allegiance ; they realised that
they were the subjects of an empire whose power did not
depend on the genius or incapacity of one man, but was
maintained from age to age in virtue of the prestige it had
attained, whatever might be the qualities of the reigning
sovereign. The other independent states had at length
come to the same conclusion, and the news of the accession
of a fresh Assyrian king no longer awakened among them
hopes of conquest or, at all events, of booty ; such an
occasion was regarded as a suitable opportunity for
strengthening the bonds of neighbourly feeling or con
ciliatory friendship which united them to Assyria, by
sending an embassy to congratulate the new sovereign.
One of these embassies, which arrived about 667 B.C.,
caused much excitement at the court of Nineveh, and

AFFAIRS IN ASIA MINOR 177

greatly flattered the vanity of the king. Eeports brought
back by sailors or the chiefs of caravans had revealed the
existence of a kingdom of Lydia in the extreme west of
Asia Minor, at the place of embarcation for crossing the
sea. 1 It was known to be celebrated for its gold and its
horses, but no direct relations between the two courts had
ever been established, and the Lydian kings had hitherto
affected to ignore the existence of Assyria. A revolution
had broken out in this province a quarter of a century
previously, which had placed on the throne of the
Heraclidse that family of the Mermnadas whose previous
history had been so tragic. Dascylus, who had made his
home for a long time among the White Syrians, had no
intention of abandoning his adopted country, when one
day, about the year 698 B.C., a messenger arrived bidding
him repair to Sardes without delay. His uncle Ardys,
prince of Tyrrha, having no children, had applied to
Sadyattes, beseeching him to revoke the sentence of
banishment passed on his nephew. " My house is
desolate," said he, " and all my kinsfolk are dead; and
furthermore, Dascylus and his house have already been
pardoned by thine ancestors." Sadyattes consented, but
Dascylus, preferring not to return, sent his son Gyges,
then about eighteen years of age, in his stead. Gyges was
a tall and very beautiful youth, and showed unusual skill as
a charioteer and in the use of weapons, so that his renown
soon spread throughout the country. Sadyattes desired to
see him, and being captivated by his bold demeanour,

It is called nngu slid nilirti tdmtim, "the country of the crossing of the
sea," or more concisely, " the country this side the sea."

VOL. VIII.

178 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

enrolled him in his bodyguard, loaded him with presents,
and took him into his entire confidence. Gyges was clever
enough to utilise the king s favour in order to enlarge his
domains and increase his riches, and thus win partisans
among the people and the body of "Friends." Carian
mercenaries at that time formed one of the most vigorous
and best disciplined contingents in the armies of the
period. 1 The Carians were, above all, a military race, and
are said to have brought the shield and helmet to their
highest perfection; at Sardes they formed the garrison of
the citadel, and their captains were in high favour with
the king. Gyges formed a fast friendship with Arselis of
Mylasa, one of the chief of these officers, and thus made
sure of the support of the garrison, and of the possibility of
recruiting a corps among the Carian clans who remained
in their own country. 2 He thus incurred the bitter
jealousy of the Tylonidse, whose chief, Lixos, was ready to
adopt any measures which might damage his rival, even
going so far as to simulate madness and run through the
streets of Sardes crying out that Gyges, the son of
Dascylus, was about to assassinate the king; but this
stratagem did not succeed any better than his other
treacherous devices. Meanwhile Sadyattes had sought the
hand of Toudo, 3 daughter of Arnossos of Mysia, and sent
his favourite to receive his affianced bride at the hand of

1 Archilochus of Paros, a contemporary of Gyges, mentions the Carian
mercenaries, and later on Ephorus said of them, that they had been the first
to sell their services to strangers.

2 The connection between Arselis and Gyges is mentioned

Plutarch.

3 It is not certain whether the name is Toudo or Trydo.

SADYATTES SLAIN BY GYGES 179

her father. Gyges fell in love with her on the journey,
and tried in vain to win her favour. She repulsed his
advances with indignation, and on the very night of her
marriage complained to her husband of the insult which
had been offered her. Sadyattes swore that he would avenge
her on the morrow; but Gyges, warned by a servant,
slew the king before daybreak. Immediately after thus
assassinating his sovereign, Gyges called together the
" Friends," and ridding himself of those who were hostile
to him, induced the others by bribes to further his designs ;
then descending to the place of public assembly, he
summoned the people to a conclave. After a long and
stormy debate, it was decided to consult the oracle at
Delphi, which, corrupted by the gold from the Pactolus,
enjoined on the Lydians to recognise Gyges as their king.
He married Toudo, and by thus espousing the widow of the
Heraclid sovereign, obtained some show of right to the
crown ; but the decision of the oracle was not universally
acceptable, and war broke out, in which Gyges was
victorious, thanks to the bravery of his Carian mercenaries.
His career soon served as the fabric on which the
popular imagination was continually working fresh em
broideries. He was reported at the outset to have been
of base extraction, a mere soldier of fortune, who had
raised himself by degrees to the highest posts and had
finally supplanted his patron. Herodotus, following the
poet Archilochus of Paros, relates how the last of the
Heraclida?, whom he calls by his private name of
Kandaules, and not his official name of Sadyattes, 1 forcibly

1 Schubert considers that the names Sadyattes and Kandaules belong to

180 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

insisted on exposing to the admiration of Gyges the
naked beauty of his wife ; the queen, thus outraged,
called upon the favourite to avenge the insult to her
modesty by the blood of her husband, and then bestowed
on him her hand, together with the crown. Plato made
this story the groundwork of a most fantastic tale. Gyges,
according to him, was originally a shepherd, who, after
a terrible storm, noticed a fissure in the ground, into
which he crept ; there he discovered an enormous bronze
horse, half broken, and in its side the corpse of a giant
with a gold ring on his finger. Chance revealed to him
that this ring rendered its wearer invisible : he set out
for the court in quest of adventures, seduced the queen,
murdered the king and seized his crown, accomplishing all
this by virtue of his talisman. 1 According to a third
legend, his crime and exaltation had been presaged by
a wondrous prodigy. Two eagles of supernatural size had
alighted on the roof of Toudo s room while she was still
dwelling in her father s house, and the soothsayers who
were consulted prognosticated that the princess would be
the wife of two kings in a single night; and, in fact,
Gyges, having stabbed Sadyattes when his marriage was
but just consummated, forced Toudo to become his wife

two distinct persons. Kandaules, according to him, was probably a second
son of Myrsos, who, after the murder of Sadyattes, disputed the possession of
the crown with Gyges ; in this case he was killed in battle by the Carian
commander, Arselis, as related by Plutarch, and Gyges was not really king
till after the death of Kandaules.

1 This version is curious, because it has preserved for us one of the
earliest examples of a ring which renders its wearer invisible ; it is well
known how frequently such a talisman appears in Oriental tales of a later
period.

GYGES AND HIS WARS AGAINST THE CIMMERIANS 181

on the spot without waiting for the morrow. Other stories
were current, in which the events were related with less
of the miraculous element, and which attributed the
success of Gyges to the unbounded fidelity shown him
by the Carian Arselis. In whatever manner it was brought
about, his accession marked the opening of a new era for
Lydia. The country had always been noted for its valiant

LYDIAX HOKSEMEK. 1

and warlike inhabitants, but the Heraclidse had not ex
pended its abundant resources on foreign conquest, and
none of the surrounding peoples suspected that it could
again become the seat of a brilliant empire as in fabulous
times.

Gyges endeavoured to awaken the military instincts of
his subjects. If he were not actually the first to organise
that admirable cavalry corps which for nearly a century
proved itself invincible on the field of battle, at least

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a Lydian bas-relief now in the British
Museum,

182 THE POWER OP ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

he enlarged and disciplined it, giving it cohesion and
daring ; and it was well he did so, for a formidable danger
already menaced his newly acquired kingdom. The Cim
merians and TrereSj so long as they did not act in concert,
had been unable to overcome the resistance offered by the
Phrygians ; their raids, annually renewed, had never
resulted in more than the destruction of a city or the
pillaging of an ill-defended district. But from 690 to
680 B.C. the Cimmerians, held in check by the bold front
displayed by Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, had at last
broken away from the seductions of the east, and poured
down in force on the centre of the peninsula. King Midas,
after an heroic defence, at length gave way before their
overwhelming numbers, and, rather than fall alive into
the hands of the barbarians, poisoned himself by drinking
the blood of a bull (676 B.C.). 1 The flower of his nobility
perished with him, and the people of lower rank .who
survived were so terrified by the invasion, that they
seemed in one day to lose entirely the brave and energetic
character which had hitherto been their safeguard. The
Cimmerians seized town after town ; 3 they descended from
the basin of the Sangarios into that of the Ehyndakos ;
they laid waste the Troad, and, about 670 B.C., they

1 The date of 676 B.C. has been borrowed from Julius Africanus by the
Christian chronologists of the Byzantine period ; these latter made the fall
of the Phrygian kingdom coincide with the reign of Amon in Judsea, and
this date is accepted by most modern historians.

2 One fact alone, probably taken from the Lydiaca of Xanthus, is known
to us concerning their operations in Phrygia, namely, the taking of Syassos
and the capture of enormous stores of corn which were laid up in the silos in
that city.

CIMMERIAN SUCCESSES . 183

. established themselves securely in the stronghold of
Antandros, opposite the magnificent ^Eolian island of
Lesbos, and ere long their advanced posts were face to
face on all sides with the outposts of Lydia. Gyges
resolutely held his own, and successfully repulsed them ;
but the struggle was too unequal between their vast
hordes, recruited incessantly from their reserves in Thrace
or the Caucasus, and his scanty battalions of Lydians,
Carians, and Greeks. Unaided, he had no chance of re
opening the great royal highway, which the fall of the
Phrygian monarchy had laid at the mercy of the barbarians
along the whole of its middle course, and yet he was aware
that a cessation of the traffic which passed between the
Euphrates and the Hermos was likely to lead in a short
time to the decay of his kingdom. If the numerous
merchants who were wont to follow this ancient traditional
route were once allowed to desert it and turn aside to one
of the coast-roads which might replace it either that
of the Pontus in the north or of the Mediterranean in
the south they might not be willing to return to it even
when again opened to traffic, and Lydia would lose for
ever one of her richest sources of revenue. 1 We may well
conceive that Gyges, whose fortune and very existence
was thus in jeopardy, would seek assistance against these
barbarians from the sovereign whose interests appeared

1 Radet deserves credit for being the first to point out the economic
reasons which necessarily led Gyges to make his attempt at forming an
alliance with Assur-bani-pal. He has thus definitely dismissed the objections
which some recent critics had raised against the authenticity of this episode
in order to defend classic tradition and diminish the authority of the
Assyrian texts.

184 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

identical with his own. The renown of the Assyrian
empire had penetrated far into the west ; the Achseans
of Cyprus who were its subjects, the Greek colonists of
Cilicia, and the soldiers whom the exigencies of the coast-
trade brought to Syrian ports, must all have testified to
its splendour ; and the fame of its conquests over the
Tabal and the peoples on the Halys had spread abroad
more than once during the previous century, and had
reached as far as the western extremity of the peninsula
of Asia Minor, by means of the merchants of Sardes or
Ionia. The Cimmerians had harassed Assyria, and still
continued to be a source of anxiety to her rulers ; Gryges
judged that participation in a common hatred or danger
would predispose the king in his favour, and a dream
furnished him with a pretext for notifying to the court
of Nineveh his desire to enter into friendly relations with
it. He dreamed that a god, undoubtedly Assur, had
appeared to him in the night, and commanded him to
prostrate himself at the feet of Assur-bani-pal : "In his
name thou shalt overcome thine enemies." The next
morning he despatched horsemen to the great king, but
when the leader of the embassy reached the frontier and
met the Assyrians for the first time, they asked him,
"Who, then, art thou, brother, thou from whose land
no courier has as yet visited our country ? The language
he spoke was unknown to them ; they only gathered that
he desired to be conducted into the presence of the king,
and consequently sent him on to Nineveh under good
escort. There the same obstacle presented itself, for none
of the official interpreters at the court knew the Lydian

GYGES SENDS AN EMBASSY TO NINEVEH 185

tongue ; however, an interpreter was at length discovered,
who translated the story of the dream as best he could.
Assur-bani-pal joyfully accepted the homage offered to
him from such a far-off land, and from thenceforward some
sort of alliance existed between Assyria and Lydia an
alliance of a very Platonic order, from which Gyges at
least derived no sensible advantage. Some troops sent
into the country of the White Syrians may have disquieted
the Cimmerians, and, by causing a diversion in their rear,
procured a respite for Lydia ; but the caravan route across
Asia Minor was only of secondary importance to the
prosperity of Nineveh and the Syrian provinces, since the
Phoenician navy provided sufficient outlets for their trade
in the west. Assur-bani-pal lavished friendly speeches on
the Lydians, but left them to bear the brunt of the attack
alone, and devoutly thanked Assur for the security which
their determined courage procured for the western frontier
of his empire.

The Cimmerian peril being, for the present at least,
averted, there no longer remained any foe to trouble the
peace of the empire on the northern or eastern frontier,
Urartu, the Mannai, and the Medes having now ceased to
be formidable. Urartu, incessantly exposed to the ravages
of the barbarians, had drawn closer and closer to Assyria ;
and though not actually descending to the point of owning
its rival s superiority in order to obtain succour against
these terrible foes, it yet carefully avoided all pretexts for
war, and persistently maintained friendly relations with its
powerful neighbour. Its kings, Busas II. and his successor
Erimenas, no longer meditated feats of arms and successful

186 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

raids, but devoted themselves to building their city walls,
erecting palaces and temples, and planning pleasant
retreats in the mountain fastnesses, where they lived
surrounded by gardens planted at great cost, watered by
streams brought thither from distant springs. The Mannai
submitted without a murmur to their Assyrian governors,
and the Medes, kept in check by the garrisons of Parsua
and Kharkhar, seemed to have laid aside much of their
fierce and turbulent disposition. Esarhaddon had
endeavoured to conciliate the good will of Elam by a signal
service. He had supplied its inhabitants with corn, wine,
and provisions of all sorts during a famine which had
afflicted the country about 670 B.C. ; nor had his good will
ended there. He refused to bring into servitude those
Elamite subjects who had taken refuge with their families
on Assyrian territory to escape the scourge, although the
rights of nations authorised him so to do, but having
nourished them as long as the dearth lasted, he then sent
them back to their fellow-citizens. Urtaku of Elam had
thenceforward maintained a kind of sullen neutrality,
entering only into secret conspiracies against the
Babylonian prefects on the Tigris. The AramaBans in the
valleys of the Ulal, indeed, were restless, and several of
their chiefs, Bel-ikisha of the Gambula, and Nabo-
shumirish, plotted in secret with Marduk-shumibni, the
Elamite general in command on the frontier. But no hint
of this had yet transpired, and peace apparently reigned
there as elsewhere. Never had the empire been so
respected ; never had it united so many diverse nations
under one sceptre Egyptians, Syrians, tribes of the

FRESH TROUBLES IN EGYPT

187

Taurus, and the mountain districts round the Tigris and
Euphrates, Mannai, Medes, Babylonians, and Arabs ; never,
moreover, had it possessed greater resources wherewith to
compel obedience from the provinces or defend them
against foreign attack. Doubtless the population of
Assyria proper, and the ancient districts whose contingents
formed the nucleus of the army, were still suffering from
the results of the civil war which had
broken out more than fifteen years
before, after the assassination of
Sennacherib ; but under the easy rule
of Esarhaddon the natural increase
of population, unchecked by any
extraordinary call for recruits, must
have almost repaired their losses.
The Egyptian campaigns, partially
carried out by Syrian auxiliaries,
had not sensibly retarded this pro
gress, and, provided that peace were

maintained for some years longer, the time seemed at
hand when the king, having repaired his losses, could
call upon the nation to make fresh efforts in offensive
or defensive warfare, without the risk of seeing his people
melt and disappear before his eyes. It seems, indeed, as
if Assur-bani-pal, either by policy or natural disposition,
was inclined for peace. But this did not preclude,
when occasion demanded, his directing his forces and
fighting in person like any other Assyrian monarch ;

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the bas-reliefs from Kouyunjik
in the British Museum.

ASSUE-BAXI-rAL.

188 THE POWER OP ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

he, however, preferred repose, and when circumstances
forced war upon him, he willingly delegated the conduct of
the army to his generals. He would probably have
renounced possession of Egypt if he could have done so
with safety and such a course would not have been without
wisdom, the retention of this newly acquired province being
difficult and costly. Not to speak of differences in
language, religion, and manners, which would prevent it
from ever becoming assimilated to Assyria as Damascus,
Hamath, and Samaria, and most of the Asiatic states had
been, it was merely connected with the rest of the empire
by the thin chain of rocks, desert, and marshes stretching
between the Eed Sea and the Mediterranean. A revolt of
the cities of the Philistines, or of one of the Idumsean
sheikhs, would have sufficed to isolate it, and, communica
tions once interrupted, the safety of the numerous Assyrian
officers and garrisons would be seriously jeopardised, all of
whom must be maintained there if the country was to be
permanently retained. The inclination to meddle in the
affairs of Syria always displayed by the Pharaohs, and their
obsolete claims to rule the whole country as far as the
Euphrates, did not allow of their autonomy being restored
to them at the risk of the immediate renewal of their
intrigues with Tyre or Judah, and the fomenting of serious
rebellions among the vassal princes of Palestine. On the
other hand, Egypt was by its natural position so detached
from the rest of the empire that it was certain to escape
from the influence of Nineveh as soon as the pressure of
circumstances obliged the suzerain to relax his efforts to
keep it in subjection. Besides this, Ethiopia lay behind

TANUATAMANU S DREAM 189

Egypt, almost inaccessible in the fabled realms of the
south, always ready to provoke conspiracies or renew
hostilities when the occasion offered. Montumihalt had
already returned to Thebes on the retreat of the Assyrian
battalions, and though Taharqa, rendered inactive, as it
was said, by a dream which bade him remain at Napata, 1
had not reappeared north of the cataract, he had sent
Tanuatamanu, the son of his wife by Sabaco, to administer
the province in his name. 2 Taharqa died shortly after
(666 B.C.), and his stepson was preparing to leave Thebes in
order to be solemnly crowned at Gebel Barkal, when he
saw one night in a dream two serpents, one on his right
hand, the other on his left. The soothsayers whom he
consulted on the matter prognosticated for him a success
ful career : " Thou boldest the south countries ; seize thou
those of the north, and let the crowns of the two regions
gleam upon thy brow ! He proceeded at once to present
himself before his divine father Amon of Napata, and,
encountering no opposition from the Ethiopian priests or
nobles, he was able to fulfil the prediction almost
immediately after his coronation. 3 The Said hailed his

1 The legend quoted by Herodotus relates that Sabaco, having slain
Necho I., the father of Psammetichus, evacuated Egypt which he had
conquered, and retired to Ethiopia in obedience to a dream. The name of
Sabaco was very probably substituted for that of Taharqa in the tradition
preserved in Saisand Memphis, echoes of which reached the Greek historian
in the middle of the fifth century B.C.

2 It appears, from the Stele of the Dream, that Tanuatamanu was in the
Thebaid at the time of his accession to the throne.

3 Steindorff thinks that Tanuatamanu had been officially associated with
himself on the throne by Taharqa, and Schtefer supposes that the dream
dates from the first year of their joint reign. The presence of Tanuatamanu

190 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

return with joy, and the inhabitants, massed upon either
bank of the river, acclaimed him as he glided past them on
his boat : " Go in peace ! mayest thou have peace !
Restore life to Egypt ! Rebuild the ruined temples, set up
once more the statues and emblems of the deities ! Re
establish the endowments raised to the gods and goddesses,
even the offerings to the dead ! Restore the priest to his
place, that he may minister at all the rites ! "

The Assyrian officials and the princes of the north, with
Necho at their head, were drawn up beneath the walls of
Memphis to defy him. He overcame them, however,
captured the city, and pushed on into the Delta in pursuit
of the retreating foe. Necho either fell in a skirmish, or
was taken prisoner and put to death : his son Psarnmetichus
escaped to Syria, but the remaining princes shut themselves
up, each in his own stronghold, to await reinforcements
from Asia, and a series of tedious and interminable sieges
began. Impatient at this dilatory method of warfare,
Tanuatamanu at length fell back on Memphis, and there
opened negotiations in the hope of securing at least a
nominal submission, which might enable him to withdraw
from the affair with honour. The princes of the east
received his overtures favourably, and consented to
prostrate themselves before him at the White Wall under
the auspices of Pakruru. " Grant us the breath of life,
for he who acknowledges thee not cannot live, and we

beside Taharqa, in the small Theban temple, the bas-reliefs of which were
published by Mariette, does not necessarily prove that the two kings reigned
conjointly : it may equally well indicate that the one accomplished the work
commenced by the other.

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TAXUATAMANU RECONQUERS EGYPT

191

will be thy vassals, as thou didst declare at the beginning,
on the day in which thou becamest king ! The heart of

o

KIXG TANUAT.UIAXU IX ADORATION BEFORE THE GODS OF THEBES. 1

his Majesty was filled with joy when he heard this dis
course : he bestowed upon them in abundance bread, beer,

1 Drawn by Bouclier, from a photograph by Legrain, taken in the small
temple at Thebes.

192 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

and all manner of good things. After sojourning some days
at the court of Pharaoh their lord, they said to him, " Why
stay we here, prince our master ? His Majesty replied,
" Wherefore ? They answered then, " Graciously permit
us to return to our own cities, that we may give commands
to our subjects, and may bring thee our tribute offerings ! "
They returned ere long, bringing the promised gifts, and
the king withdrew to Napata loaded with spoil. 1 The
Delta proper at once ceased to obey him, but Memphis,
as well as Thebes, still acknowledged his sway for some
two or three years longer. 2 It was neither indolence nor
fear which had kept Assnr-bani-pal from marching to the
succour of his subjects as soon as the movement under
Tanuatamanu became manifest, but serious complications
had arisen in the south-east which had for the moment
obliged him to leave Egypt to itself. Elam had at last laid
aside the mask, and Urtaku, yielding to the entreaties of
the Aramaean sheikhs, who were urged on by Marduk-
shumibni, had crossed the Tigris. Shamash-shumukm,
thus taken unawares, could only shut himself up in Babylon,
and in all haste send information of his plight to his
brother and suzerain- Assur-bani-pal, preoccupied with the

1 Tanuatamanu was at first identified by Haigh with the person whose
name Assyriologists read as Urdamani, but the impossibility of recognising
the name Tanuatamanu in Urdamani decided E. de Rouge, and subsequently
others, to admit an Urdamani different from Tanuatamanu. The discovery
of the right reading of the name Tandamanu by Steindorff has banished all
doubts, and it is now universally admitted that the person mentioned in the
Assyrian documents is identical with the king who erected the Stele of the
Dream at Gebel Barkal.

2 A monument still exists which was dedicated at Thebes in the third
year of Tanuatamanu.

THE ASSYRIAN LEADERS SUDDENLY CUT OFF 193

events taking place on the Nile, was for a moment in doubt
whether this incursion was merely a passing raid or the
opening of a serious war, but the reports of his scouts soon
left no doubt as to the gravity of the danger : " The
Elamite, like a swarm of grasshoppers, covers the fields,
he covers Accad ; against Babylon he has pitched his carnp
and drawn out his lines." The city was too strong to be
taken by storm. The Assyrians hastened to relieve it,
and threatened to cut off the retreat of the aggressors :
the latter, therefore, gave up the siege, and returned to
their own country, but their demeanour was still so
undaunted that Assur-bani-pal did not cross the frontier
in pursuit of them (665 B.C.). He doubtless fully expected
that they would soon return in larger numbers, and perhaps
his fear would not have proved unfounded had not fate
suddenly deprived them of all their leaders. Bel-ikisha
was killed in hunting by a wild boar, Nabu-shumirish was
struck down by dropsy, and Marduk-shumibni perished in
a mysterious manner. Finally Urtaku succumbed to an
attack of apoplexy, and the year which had been so fatal
to his allies proved not less so to himself (664 B.C.). It
now seemed as if Assur-bani-pal might breathe freely, and
inflict his long-deferred vengeance on Tanuatamanu, but
the death of Urtaku did not remove all causes of uneasiness.
Peace was not yet concluded, and it depended on the new
King of Elam whether hostilities would be renewed.
Fortunately for the Assyrians, the transmission of power
had rarely taken place at Susa for a century past without
a disturbance, and Urtaku himself had gained the throne
by usurpation, possibly accompanied by murder. As he
VOL. vm. o

194 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

had treated his elder brother Khumban-khaldash and the
children of the latter, so did his younger brother Tammaritu
now treat his sons. Tammaritu was "a devil incarnate,
whose whole thoughts were of murder and rapine ; at least,
this was the idea formed of him by his Assyrian con
temporaries, who declared that he desired to put to death
the sons of his two predecessors out of sheer cruelty. But
we do not need a very vivid imagination to believe that
these princes were anxious to dethrone him, and that in
endeavouring to rid himself of them he was merely fore
stalling their secret plots. They escaped his murderous
designs, however, and fled to Assyria, Khumban-igash,
Khurnban-appa, and Tammaritu, sons of Uitaku, and
Kuduru and Parru, sons of Khumban-khaldash, followed
by sixty other princes of royal blood, together with archers
and servants forming, in fact, a small army of Elamites.
Assur-bani-pal received them with honour, for their
defection furnished him with a powerful weapon against
the usurper : by succouring them he could rouse half Elam
and involve it in civil war,, in which the pretenders would
soon exhaust their resources. It was now a favourable
moment to renew hostilities in Egypt, while Tammaritu,
still insecure on his throne, would not venture to provoke
a conflict. 1 As a matter of fact, Tanuatamanu did not

1 The time of the war against Urtaku and the expedition against
Tanuatamanu is indicated by a passage in a cylinder as yet unedited. There
we read that the invasion of Urtaku took place at the moment when
Tanuatamanu ascended the throne. These preliminary difficulties with Elam
would thus have coincided with the two years which elapsed between the
accession of Tanuatamanu and his conquest of Memphis, up to the third year
mentioned in the Berlin inscription ; the testimony of the Egyptian

DESPOILING THE TEMPLES AND PALACES 195

risk the defence of Memphis, but concentrated his forces
at Thebes. Once more the Assyrian generals ascended
the Nile, and, after a voyage lasting six weeks, at length
reached the suburbs of the great city. Tanuatamanu had
fled towards Kipkip, leaving Thebes at the mercy of the
invaders. It was given up to pillage, its population was
carried off into slavery, and its temples and palaces were
despoiled of their treasures gold, silver, metals, and
precious stones, broidered and richly dyed stuffs, and
horses of the royal stud. Two of the obelisks which
adorned the temple of Amon were taken
down from their pedestals and placed on
rafts to be transported to Nineveh, and we
shall perhaps unearth them some day from
its ruins. This work of reprisal accom
plished, the conquerors made their way
northwards, and the bulk of the army A8STRIAS IIELMET
recrossed the isthmus : Ethiopian rule had FOUXD AT TIIEBES -
ceased north of the cataract, and Egypt settled down
once more under the Assyrian yoke (663-662 B.C.). 2

Impoverished and decayed as Thebes had now long
since become, the nations whom she had afflicted so sorely
in the days of her glory had retained for her feelings of

monuments would thus be in almost complete accord with the Assyrian
documents on this point.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph by Petrie.

The dates which I have adopted follow from the date of 66G B.C. given
for the death of Taharqa and the accession of Psammetichus I. The
expedition against Thebes must have taken place at the end of the third or
beginning of the fourth year of the reign of Tanuatamanu, shortly after
the inscription of the third year, and was engraved either in 663 or 662 B.C.
at the latest.

196 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

respect and almost of awe : the rumour of her fall, spread
through the Eastern world, filled them with astonishment
and pity. The Hebrews saw in it the chastisement in
flicted by their God on the tyrant who had oppressed
their ancestors, and their prophets used it to impress upon
the minds of their contemporaries the vanity of human
prosperity. Half a century later, when Nineveh, menaced
in her turn, was desperately arming herself to repel the
barbarians, Nahurn the Elkoshite demanded of her, amid
his fierce denunciations, whether she vaunted herself to
be better than " No-amon (city of Amon), that was situate
among the rivers, that had the waters round about her ;
whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea ?
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite.
Put and Lubim (Libya and the Nubians) came to her
succour. Yet was she carried away, she went into
captivity : her young children also were dashed in pieces
at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her
honourable men, and all her great men were bound in
chains." l Assur-bani-pal, lord of Egypt and conqueror of
Ethiopia, might reasonably consider himself invincible ;
it would have been well for the princes who trembled at
the name of Assur-bani-pal, if they had taken this lesson
to heart, and had learned from the downfall of Tanuata-
manu what fate awaited them in the event of their daring
to arouse the wrath of Assyria by any kind of intrigue.
Unfortunately, many of them either failed to see the
warning or refused to profit by it. The Mannai had
quickly recovered from the defeat inflicted on them by

1 Nalium iii. 8-10.

SPORTS AND PASTIMES 197

Esarhaddon, and their king, Akhsheri, in spite of his
advancing years, believed that his own energy and re
sources were sufficient to warrant him in anticipating a
speedy revenge. Perhaps a further insight into the real
character of Assur-bani-pal may have induced him to
venture on hostilities. For the king s contemporaries had
begun to realise that, beneath his apparent bravery and
ostentation, he was by nature indolent, impatient of
restraint, and fond of ease and luxury. When not absorbed
in the routine of the court and the pleasures of the harem,
he spent his leisure in hunting on the Mesopotamian plains,
or in the extensive parks which had been laid out by him
self or his predecessors in the vicinity of their summer
palaces. Urus-stalking had become merely a memory of
the past : these animals had been so persistently hunted
for centuries that the species had almost become extinct ;
solitary specimens only were occasionally met with in
remote parts of the forest or in out-of-the-way marshes.
The wild ass was still to be found in large numbers, as
well as the goat, the ostrich, and small game, but the
lion was now rarely met with, and the beaters were no
longer sure of finding him in his ancient haunts. Speci
mens had to be sought by the royal gamekeepers in the
provinces, and when successfully trapped were forthwith
despatched to one or other of the king s country seats.
The beast was often kept for several days in a cage while
preparations were made for a fete, at which he was destined
to form one of the chief attractions, and when the time
came he was taken to the appointed place and let loose ;
the sovereign pursued him either in a chariot or on

198

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

horseback, aiid did not desist from the chase till he had
pierced his quarry with arrows or lance. Frequently the
beast would be turned loose in the park, and left there till
accustomed to his surroundings, so that later on he might
be run down under conditions somewhat resembling his
native freedom. Assur-bani-pal did not shun a personal

A LION ISSUING FROM ITS CAGE. 1

encounter with an infuriated lion ; he displayed in this
hazardous sport a bravery and skill which rivalled that
of his ancestors, and he never relegated to another the
task of leading the attack or dealing the final death-blow.
This, however, was not the case when it was a question
of starting on some warlike expedition ; he would then
leave to his Tartans, or to the Eabshakeh, or to some

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken from the original
in the British Museum.

APPARENT IXDOLEXCE OF ASSUR-BAXI-PAL 199

other chosen officer, the entire conduct of all operations. 1
This did not preclude the king from taking an interest in
what was passing beyond the frontier, nor did he fail in
his performance of the various religious duties which
custom imposed on an Assyrian sovereign : he consulted
the oracles of Shamash or Ishtar, he offered sacrifices, he
fasted and humbled himself in the temples to obtain the
success of his troops, and when they returned laden with
spoil from the campaign, he attributed their victories no
less to his prayers than to their courage or to the skill
of their leaders. His generals, thoroughly equipped for
their task, and well supported by their troops, had no
need of the royal presence to ensure their triumph over
any foe they might encounter ; indeed, in the absence
of the king they experienced a liberty of action and bold
ness in pressing their victories to the uttermost which
they would not have enjoyed had he been in command.
Foreigners, accustomed to see the sovereigns of Nineveh
conduct their armies in person, as long as they were not
incapacitated by age, thought that the indolence of Assur-
bani-pal was the unconscious expression of weariness or
of his feeble control of the empire, and Akhsheri determined
to be one of the first to take advantage of it. Events
proved that he was mistaken in his calculations. No
sooner had his intentions become known, than a division
of Assyrian troops appeared on his frontier, and prepared
to attack him. Resolving to take the initiative, he fell

We have seen, for example, that after the death of Esarhaddon, the
Egyptian campaign was conducted by one of the Tartans and the Rab-
shakeh.

200 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

one night unexpectedly upon the Assyrian camp, but
fortune declared against him : he was driven back, and
his broken ranks were closely pursued for a distance of
twenty-three miles. Eight of his strongholds fell one
after the other, and he was at length forced to abandon
his capital of Izirtu, and flee precipitately to his fortress
of Adrana in the heart of the mountains. Even there
he did not find the security he desired, for the conqueror
pursued him thither, methodically devastating by the way
the districts through which he passed : he carried off
everything men, slaves, and herds of cattle and he
never retired from a city or village without previously
setting it on fire. Paddir, Arsiyanish, and Eristiana were
thus laid waste, after which the Assyrians returned to
their camp, having re-established the authority of their
master over several districts which had been lost to
them for some generations previously. Akhsheri had
shown no sign of yielding, but his people, weary of a
hopeless resistance, put him to death, and hurling his
corpse over the wall of Adrana, proclaimed his son Ualli
as king. The new sovereign hastened to conclude a
treaty with the Assyrians on reasonable terms : he gave
up his eldest son, Erisinni, and one of his daughters as
hostages, and promised to pay the former tribute aug
mented by an annual present of thirty horses ; peace was
not again disturbed on this side except by some unim
portant skirmishes. In one of these, a Median chieftain,
named Biriz-khadri, made an alliance with two princes of
the people of the Sakhi, Sarati, and Parikhia, sons of Gagu, 1

1 The name of Biriz-khadri has an Iranian appearance. The first element

DISTURBANCES AMOXG THE MANNAI AND THE MEDES 201

to ravage the marches of the Greater Zab ; but their
territory was raided in return, and they themselves taken
prisoners. A little later, Andaria, prince of Luhdi, for
getful of his oath of allegiance to the aged Esarhad-
don, made a night attack on the towns of Kullimir
and Ubbumt : the inhabitants armed in haste, and he
was not only defeated, but was taken captive, and his
head cut off to be sent to Nineveh. The garrisons and
military colonies along the north-east frontier were con
stantly required to be on the alert ; but they usually
had sufficient available resources to meet any emergency,
and the enemies who molested them were rarely dangerous
enough to necessitate the mobilisation of a regular army.

This was not the case, however, in the south-west,
where Tiumman, counting on the military strength of
Elam, made continual hostile demonstrations. He was
scarcely settled on his throne before he hastened to form
alliances with those Aramaean states which had so often
invoked the aid of his predecessors against the ancestors of
Assur-bani-pal. The Kalda rejected his proposals, as did

Biriz recalls the Zend bereza, berez, "tall, large; " the second, which appears
in the names Bisi-khadir and Khali-khadri, is of uncertain derivation, and
has been connected with afar, "fire," or with Jchwathra, "brilliance." Gagu,
which is found as the name of a people (Gagati) in the Tel-el- Arnarna tablets,
has been identified from the first with the name of Gog, prince of Rosh,
Meshech, and Tubal (EzeJc. xxxviii. 2, 3 ; xxxix. 1. The name of the country
of Sakhi, which has not been met with elsewhere, has been compared with
that of the Sacse, which seems to have existed not only in the name of the
province of Sakasene mentioned by the classical geographers, but in that of
Shake known to the old Armenian geographers ; the country itself, however,
as it seems to me, cannot be sought in the direction of Sakasene, and con
sequently the proposed identification cannot hold good.

202 THE POWER OP ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

most of the tribes of the littoral ; but the Gambula yielded
to his solicitations, and their king, Dunanu, son of Bel-
ikisha, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with
Elam. Their defection left the eastern frontier of
Karduniash unprotected, and, by opening to the Elamite
the fords of the Tigris, permitted him to advance on
Babylon unhindered by any serious obstacle. As soon as
the compact was sealed, Tiurnman massed his battalions on
the middle course of the Uknu, and, before crossing the
frontier, sent two of his generals, the Susian Khumba-dara
and the Chaldean Nabu-damlq, as the bearers of an
insolent ultimatum to the court of Nineveh : he offered the
king the choice between immediate hostilities, or the
extradition of the sons of Urtaku and Khumban-khaldash,
as well as of their partisans who had taken refuge in
Assyria. To surrender the exiles would have been an open
confession of inferiority, and such a humiliating acknow
ledgment of weakness promptly reported throughout the
Eastern world might shortly have excited a general revolt :
hence Assur-bani-pal disdainfully rejected the proposal of
the Elamite sovereign, which had been made rather as a
matter of form than with any hope of its acceptance, but
the issue of a serious war with Susa was so uncertain that
his refusal was accompanied with serious misgivings. It
needed many favourable omens from the gods to encourage
him to believe in his future success. The moon-god Sin
was the first to utter his prediction : he suffered eclipse in
the month of Tammuz, and for three successive days, at
nightfall, showed himself in the sky surrounded by strange
appearances which heralded the death of a king in Elam,

THE WAR AGAINST TIUMMAN 203

and foretold calamity to that country. Then Assur and
Ishtar struck Tiumman with violent convulsions ; they
caused his lips and eyes to be horribly distorted, but he
despised their warning, and as soon as his seizure had
passed, set out to assume command of his army. The news
of his action reached Nineveh in the month of Ab, on the
morning of the solemn festival of Ishtar. Assur-bani-pal
was at Arbela, celebrating the rites in honour of the
goddess, when the messenger appeared before him and
repeated, together with the terms of the declaration of war,
the scornful words which Tiuinman had uttered against him
and his patroness : " This prince whose wits have been
crazed by Ishtar I will let him escape no more, when
once I have gone forth and measured my strength against
him ! This blasphemy filled the Assyrian king with
horror. That very evening he betook himself to the
sanctuary, and there, prostrate before the image of the
goddess, he poured forth prayers mingled with tears :
" Lady of Arbela, I am Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria,
the creature of thy hands, the offspring of a father whom
thou didst create ! Behold now, this Tiumman, the King
of Elam, who despises the gods of Assyria, hath sent forth
his host and prepared himself for the conflict ; he hath
called for his arms to rush to attack Assyria. Do thou,
archer of the gods, like a bolt falling in the midst of the
battle, overthrow him, and let loose upon him a tempest,
and an evil wind ! Ishtar heard his prayer, and her
voice sounded through the gloom : " Fear not," said she,
comforting him : " since thou hast raised thy hands to me
in supplication, and thine eyes are bedewed with tears I

204 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

grant thee a boon ! Towards the end of that night, a seer
slept in the temple and was visited by a dream. Ishtar of
Arbela appeared to him, with a quiver on either side, a bow
in one hand and a drawn sword in the other. She
advanced towards the king, and spoke to him as if she had
been his mother : " Make war boldly ! whichever way thou
turnest thy countenance, there will I go ! And the king
replied to her, "Where thou goest, will I go with thee,
sovereign lady ! But she answered, " Stay thou here.
Dwell in this home of Nebo, eat thy food and drink thy
wine, listen to joyful songs and honour my divinity, until I
have gone and accomplished this work. Let not thy
countenance grow pale, nor thy feet fail under thee, and
expose not thyself to the danger of battle." " And then,
king," added the seer, " she hid thee in her bosom as a
mother, and protected thy image. A name shall spring
forth before her, and shall spread abroad to destroy thine
enemies : against Tiumman, King of Elam, who has
angered her, has she set her face ! Like Minephtah of
old, in the days of the Libyan invasions of Egypt, Assur-
bani-pal allowed himself to be readily convinced by the
decision of the gods; he did not quit Arbela, but gave
orders to his troops to proceed to the front. His generals
opened the campaign in the month of Elul, and directed
the main body of their forces against the fortress of Durilu,
at the point on the frontier nearest to Susa. Tiumman
was not expecting such a prompt and direct attack : he had
reckoned doubtless on uniting his forces with those of
Dunanu with a view to invading Karduniash, and suddenly
realised that his adversary had forestalled him and was

EQUIPMENT OF TIUMMAN S ARMY 205

advancing on the heart of his empire. He slowly with
drew his advanced guard, and concentrated his forces round
the town of Tulllz, a few leagues on this side of Susa, and
there awaited the enemy s attack. 1

His position was a strong one, flanked on the right by a
wood and on the left by the Ulai, while the flower of the
Elamite nobility was ranged around him. The equipment
of his soldiers was simpler than that of the enemy : con
sisting of a low helmet, devoid of any crest, but furnished
with a large pendant tress of horsehair to shade the neck ;
a shield of moderate dimensions ; a small bow, which,
however, was quite as deadly a weapon as that of the
Assyrians, when wielded by skilful hands ; a lance, a mace,
and a dagger. He had only a small body of cavalry, but
the chariotry formed an important force, and presented
several original features. The chariot did not follow the
classic model, rounded in front and open at the back ; it
was a kind of light car, consisting of a square footboard
placed flat on the axle of the wheels, and furnished with
triangular side-pieces on two sides only, the vehicle being
drawn by a pair of horses. Such chariots were easier to
manage, better adapted for rapid motion, and must have
been more convenient for a reconnaissance or for skirmishes
with infantry ; but when thrown in a mass against the
heavy chariotry of the peoples of the Euphrates, they were
far too slightly built to overthrow the latter, and at close

The site of Tulliz is unknown. Billerbeck considers, and with reason,
I think, that the battle took place to the south of Susa, on the river Shavur,
which would correspond to the Ulai, on the lowest spurs of the ridge of hills
bordering the alluvial plain of Susiana.

206

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

quarters were of necessity crushed by the superior weight
of the adversary. Tiumman had not succeeded in collect
ing all his forces before the first columns of the Assyrian
army advanced to engage his front line, but as he was

ITUKI BREAKS HIS BOW WITH A BLOW OF HIS SWORD, AXD GIVES HIMSELF UP TO

THE EXECUTIONER. 1

expecting reinforcements, he endeavoured to gain time by
despatching Ituni, one of his generals, with orders to
negotiate a truce. The Assyrian commander, suspecting a
ruse, would not listen to any proposals, but ordered the envoy
to be decapitated on the spot : Ituni broke his bow with a
blow of his sword, and stoically yielded his neck to the

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken from the original in the
British Museum.

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THE BATTLE OF TULLIZ

209

executioner. The issue of the battle was for a long time
undecided, but the victory finally remained with the heavy
regiments of Assyria. The left wing of the Susians, driven
into the Ulai, perished by drowning, and the river was
choked with the corpses of men and horses, and the debris
of arms and broken chariots. The right wing took to flight
under cover of a wood, and the survivors tried to reach the

URTAKU, COUSIN OF TIUMMAN, SURRENDERING TO AN ASSYRIAN. 1

mountains. Urtaku, the cousin of Tiumman, was wounded
by an arrow ; perceiving an Assyrian soldier coming up to
him, he told him who he was, and recommended him to
carry his head to the general : " He will pay you hand
somely for it," he added. Tiumman had led in person
several charges of his body-guard ; and on being wounded,
his son Tammaritu had succeeded in rescuing him from the
thick of the fight : both seated together in a chariot, were

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the British
Museum.

VOL. VIII. p

210 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

in full flight, when one of the wheels caught against a tree
and was shattered, the shock flinging the occupants to the
ground. A large body of Assyrians were in close pursuit,
led by one of the exiled Susian princes, a second Tam-
rnaritu, son of Urtaku. At the first discharge an arrow
wounded Tiumman. in the right side, and brought him to

THE LAST ARROW OF TIUMMAN AND HIS SON. 1

his knee. He felt that all was over, and desiring at all
events to be revenged, he pointed out the deserter prince
to his companion, crying indignantly, " Let fly at him."
The arrow missed its mark, and a flight of hostile darts
stretched the young man on the ground : the traitor
Tammaritu dealt the son his death-blow with his mace,
while an Assyrian decapitated the father. The corpses
were left on the field, but the head of the king, after being

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British Museum.

TIUMMAN AND HIS SON

211

taken to the general in command, was carried through the
camp on one of the chariots captured during the action,
and was eventually sent to the palace of Arbela by the
hand of a well-mounted courier. The day concluded with

DKATH OF TIUMMAX AND HIS SON. 1

the making of an inventory of the spoil, and by an enumera
tion of the heads of the slain : prisoners from the rank and
file were beaten to death according to custom, and several
of the principal officers had their tongues torn out or were
flayed alive. The news of the disaster was brought to Susa
towards evening by the fugitives, and produced a revolution
in the city. The partisans of the exiled princes, seizing

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British Museum.

212 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

the adherents of Tiumman, put them in chains, and
delivered them up to the conqueror. The shattered
remnants of the army rallied round them, and a throng of
men and women in festal garb issued forth along the banks
of the Ulai to meet the Assyrians. The priests and sacred
singers marched to the sound of music, marking the
rhythm with their feet, and filling the air with the noise of
their harps and double flutes, while behind them came a
choir of children, chanting a hymn under the direction of
the consecrated eunuchs. The Tartan met them, and,
acting in accordance with the orders of Assur-bani-pal 3
presented to the multitude Khumban-igash, the eldest son
of Urtaku, as their king. The people joyfully hailed the
new sovereign, and the Assyrians, after exacting tribute
from him and conferring the fief of Khaidalu on his brother
Tammaritu, withdrew, leaving to the new princes the task
of establishing their authority outside the walls of Susa and
Madaktu. As they returned, they attacked the Gambula,
speedily reducing them to submission. Dunanu, besieged
in his stronghold of Shapibel, surrendered at discretion,
and was carried away captive with all his family. Thus
Assur-bani-pal had scrupulously obeyed the orders of Ishtar.
While his generals were winning his victories he had been
eating and drinking, hunting, dallying with his wives, and
living in the open air. He was taking his pleasure with
the queen in the palace garden when the head of Tiumman
was brought to him : he caused it to be suspended from the
branch of a pine tree in full view of the whole court, and
continued his banquet to the sound of harps and singing.
Eusas III., King of Urartu, died about this time, and his

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ASSUR-BANI-PAL AND HIS POWER

215

successor, Sharduris III., thought it incumbent on him to
announce his accession at Nineveh. Assur-bani-pal
received the embassy at Arbela, with the graciousness
befitting a suzerain whom a faithful vassal honours by his

dutiful homage, and in order
to impress the Urartians still
farther with an idea of his

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power, he showed them the two

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THE HEAD OF TIUilM^N SENT TO XINEVEH. 1

Elamite delegates, Khumba-dara and Nabu-damlq, in chains
at his feet. 2 These wretched men had a more cruel ordeal

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British Museum.
The chariot speeding along at a gallop in the topmost series of pictures
carries a soldier bearing the head of Tiumman in his hand ; behind him,
under a tent, scribes are registering the heads which are brought in. In the
two lower bas-reliefs are displayed the closing scenes of the battle.

1 Belck and Lehmann have very ingeniously connected the embassy,

216 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

yet in store for them : when the Assyrian army re-entered
Nineveh, Assur-bani-pal placed them on the route along
which the cortege had to pass, and made them realise to
the full the humiliation of their country. Dunanu walked
at the head of the band of captive chiefs, with the head of
Tiumman, taken from its tree, suspended round his neck.
When the delegates perceived it, they gave way to despair :

ASSUR BANI-PAL BANQUETING WITH HIS QUEEN. 1

Khurnba-dara tore out his beard by handfuls, and Nabu-
damiq, unsheathing the dagger which hung from his belt,
plunged it into his own breast. The triumphal entry was
followed bv the usual tortures. The head of Tiumman was

m

fixed over the gate of Nineveh, to rot before the eyes of the
multitude. Dunanu was slowly flayed alive, and then bled
like a lamb ; his brother Shamgunu had his throat cut, and
his body was divided into pieces, which were distributed

mentioned in the Assyrian documents, with the fact of the accession of the
king who sent it.

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the British
Museum. The head of Tiumman hangs on the second tree on the left-hand
side.

ELAM SUBJECT TO ASSYRIA

>

17

over the country as a warning. Even the dead were not
spared : the bones of Nabu-shumirish were disinterred and
transported to Assyria, where his sons were forced to bray
them in a mortar. 1 We may estimate the extent of the alarm
which had been felt at Nineveh by the outburst of brutal
joy with which the victory was hailed. The experience of
the past showed what a terrible enemy Assyria had in Elam,

TWO ELAMITE CHIEFS FLAYED ALIVE AFTER THE BATTLE OF TULLIZ. 2

and how slight was the chance of a successful issue in a
war against her. Her kings had often invaded Chaldsea,
and had more than once brought it directly under their
sway ; they had ravaged its cities and pillaged its temples,
and the sanctuary of Susa were filled with statues of the

1 The fullest text of all those which narrate the campaign against
Tiumman and Dunanu is that on Cylinder B of the British Museum. It pre
tends, as usual, that the king led the army in person, but the words which
the seer places in the mouth of Ishtar prove that the king remained at Arbela
by divine command, and the inscription on one of the bas-reliefs, as well as
Tablet K 2674, mentions, without giving his namff the general who was sent
against Susa.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British Museum.

21$ THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

gods or with bas-reliefs which they had dedicated after
their campaigns on the Euphrates. Although they had not
heen successful against Assyria to the same extent, they had
at least always victoriously repelled her attacks : they had
held their own against Sargon, given much trouble to
Sennacherib, and defied the power of Esarhaddon with
impunity. Never till now had an Assyrian army gained
such an important victory over Elam, and though it was by
no means decisive, we can easily believe that Assur-bani-pal
was filled with pride and delight, since it was the first time
that a king of Nineveh had imposed on Elam a sovereign of
his own choice.

Since homage was voluntarily rendered him by the
rulers of foreign nations, Assur-bani-pal doubtless believed
that he might exact it without hesitation from the
vassal princes dependent on the empire ; and not from the
weaker only like those who were still to be found in
Syria, but also from the more powerful, not excepting the
lord of Karduniash. Sharnash-shumukin had fully risen
to his position as King of Babylon, and the unbroken
peace which he had enjoyed since the death of Urtaku
had enabled him almost to complete the restoration of
the kingdom begun under Esarhaddon. He had finished
the rebuilding of the walls of Babylon, and had fortified
the approaches to the city, thus rendering it capable of
withstanding a long siege ; he had repaired the temple
of Sippara, which had never recovered from the Elamite
invasion ; and while unstintingly lavishing his treasures
in honour of the gods and for the safety of his capital,
he watched with jealous care over the interests of his

ASSYRIA S STRAINED RELATIONS WITH CHALD^EA 219

subjects. He obtained for them the privilege of being
treated on the same footing as the Assyrians throughout
his father s ancestral domains ; they consequently enjoyed
the right of trading without restriction throughout the
empire, and met with the same degree of protection from
the officials of Nineveh as from the magistrates of their
own country. Assur-bani-pal had at the outset furthered
the wishes of his brother to the utmost of his power:
he had granted the privileges demanded, and whenever
a Chaldaean of noble birth arrived at his court, he received
him with special marks of favour. The two states en
joyed a nearly absolute equality during the opening years
of his reign, and though the will of Esarhaddon had
made Babylon dependent on Assyria, the yoke of vassal
age was far from heavy. The suzerain reserved to him
self the honour of dedicating the mighty works begun by
his father, the restoration of the temple of Bel-Marduk
and of the double wall of fortification ; he claimed, in
his inscriptions, the whole merit of the work, but he
none the less respected his brother s rights, and in no
way interfered in the affairs of the city except in state
ceremonies in which the assertion of his superior rank
was indispensable. But with success his moderation
gradually gave place to arrogance. In proportion as his
military renown increased, he accentuated his supremacy,
and accustomed himself to treat Babylon more and more as
a vassal state. After the conquest of Elarn his infatuated
pride knew no bounds, and the little consideration he
still retained for Shamash-shumukln vanished completely.
He thenceforward refused to regard him as being more

220 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

than a prefect bearing a somewhat higher title than his
fellows, a viceroy owing his crown, not to the will of
their common father, but to the friendship of his brother,
and liable to be deprived of it at any moment through
the caprice of the sovereign. He affected to consider all
that took place at Babylon as his own doing, and his
brother as being merely his docile instrument, not de
serving mention any more than the ordinary agents who
carried out his designs ; and if, indeed, he condescended
to mention him, it was with an assumption of disdainful
superiority. It is a question whether Shamash-Shumukin
at this juncture believed that his brother was meditating
a design to snatch the reins of government from his hand,
or whether he merely yielded to the impulse of wounded
vanity in resolving to shake off a yoke which had become
intolerable. Knowing that his power was not equal to
that of Assur-bani-pal, he sought to enter into relations
with foreign allies who shared the same fears, or nursed
a similar feeling of bitterness. The nobles and priests
of the ancient Sumerian and Accadian cities were already
on his side, but the AramaBans had shown themselves
hostile at his accession, and had brought down on him
the forces of Elam. He found means, however, to con
ciliate them, together with the tribes which dwelt on
the Tigris and the Uknu, as well as those of the lower
Euphrates and the Arabian desert. He won over to his
projects Nabu-belzikri, the chief of the Kald a grandson
of that Merodach-baladan who had cherished invincible
hatred against Sargon and Sennacherib besides the lords
of the Bit-Dakkuri and Blt-Arnukkani, and the sheikh of

THE GREAT COALITION AGAINST SYRIA 221

the Pukudu. Khumban-igash ought to have remained
loyal to the friend to whom he owed his kingdom, but
he chafed at the patronage of Assyria, and Assur-bani-
pal had just formulated a demand to which he, not un
reasonably, hesitated to accede. The archaic statue of
Nana, stolen from Uruk by Kutur-nakhunta sixteen
centuries before, and placed by that prince in one of
the temples of Susa, had become so naturalised in its
new abode that the kings of Elain, not content with
rendering it an official cult, were wont to send presents
to Babylonia, to the image which had replaced it in its
original sanctuary. Assur-bani-pal now required Khumban-
igash to give back the original statue, but the Elamite could
not obey this mandate without imperilling both his throne
and his person : he would thereby have risked incurring
the displeasure both of the nobles, whose pride would
have suffered at the loss of so precious a trophy, and of
the common people, who would have thus been deprived
of one of their most venerable objects of devotion. The
messengers of Shamash-shumukin, arriving at the moment
when this question was agitating the court of Susa,
found the way already prepared for a mutual understand
ing. Besides, they held in their hands an irresistible
argument, the treasures of Bel-Marduk of Babylon, of
Nebo of Borsippa, and of Nergal of Kuta, which had
been confided to them by the priests with a view to
purchasing, if necessary, the support of Elam. Khumban-
igash thereupon promised to send a detachment of troops
to Karduniash, and to invade the provinces of Assyria the
moment war should be declared. The tribes of Guti were

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

easily won over, and were followed by the kings of Phoenicia
and the Bedawin of Melukhkha, and perhaps Egypt itself
was implicated in the plot. The Prince of Kedar,
Amuladdin, undertook to effect a diversion on the
frontiers of Syria, and Uate, son of Layali, one of the
Arab kings who had paid homage to Esarhaddon, was
not behindhand in furnishing his contingent of horsemen
and wild native infantry. The coalition already extended
from the shores of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
to the Persian Gulf before Assur-bani-pal became aware
of its existence.

An unforeseen occurrence suddenly broke in upon his
peace and revealed the extent of the peril which threatened
him. 1 Kudur, the Assyrian prefect of Uruk, learnt from
Sin-tabni-uzur, the governor of Uru, that certain emissaries
of Shamash-shumukm had surreptitiously entered that city
and were secretly fomenting rebellion among the people.
Sin-tabni-uzur himself had been solicited to join the move
ment, but had absolutely refused to do so, and considering
himself powerless to repress the disaffection with the few
soldiers at his disposal, he had demanded reinforcements.
Kudur first furnished him with five hundred men of his
own troops, and subsequently sent some battalions which

1 The chronology of this war has been determined by G. Smith from the
dates attached to the documents in the British Museum, which give the
names of three limmi, Assur-duruzur, Zagabbu, and Bel-kharran-shadua :
these he assigned respectively to the years 650, 649, and 648 B.C. Tiele has
shown that these three limmi must be assigned to the years 652-650 B.C.
Though these dates seem in the highest degree probable, we must wait before
we can consider them as absolutely certain till chance restores to us the
missing parts of the Canon.

INGRATITUDE OF THE BABYLONIANS

were under the command of the governors of Arrapkha and
Amidi, but which were, for some unknown reason,
encamped in the neighbourhood. It would appear that
Shamash-shumukin, finding his projects interfered with by
this premature exposure, tried to counteract its effects by
protestations of friendship : a special embassy was de
spatched to his brother to renew the assurances of his
devotion, and he thus gained the time necessary to
complete his armaments. As soon as he felt himself fully
prepared, he gave up further dissimulation, and, throwing
away the mask, proclaimed himself independent of Assyria,
while at the same moment Khumban-igash despatched his
army to the frontier and declared war on his former
protector. Assur-bani-pal was touched to the quick by
what he truly considered the ingratitude of the Baby
lonians. " As for the children of Babylon, I had set them
upon seats of honour, I had clothed them in robes of many
colours, I had placed rings of gold upon their fingers ; the
children of Babylon had been established in Assyria, and
were admitted into my presence. But Shamash-shumukin,
the false brother, he has not observed my ordinances, but
has raised against me the peoples of Akkad, the Kalda,
the Aramaeans, the peoples of the country of the sea, from
Akabah to Bab-salimeti ! Nineveh was at first in a state
of trepidation at this unexpected blow ; the sacred oracles
gave obscure replies, and presaged evil four times out of
five. At last, one day, a seer slept and dreamed a dream,
in which he saw this sentence written on the ground in
the temple of Sin : " All those who are meditating evil
against Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria, and who are

221 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

preparing themselves to fight with him, I will inflict on
them a terrible death : by the swift sword, by flinging
them into fire, by famine and by pestilence, will I destroy
their lives ! The courage of the people being revived by
this prophecy, Assur-bani-pal issued a proclamation to the
Babylonians, in which he denounced his brother s treason,
and commanded them to remain quiet as they valued their
lives, and, having done this, he boldly assumed the
offensive (652 B.C.). 1 The only real danger came from the
side of Elam ; this state alone was in a condition to oppose
him with as numerous and determined an army as that
which he himself could put into the field ; if Elam were
disabled, it would be impossible for Babylon to be
victorious, and its fall would be a mere question of time.
The opening of the campaign was a difficult matter.
Khumban-igash, having sold his support dearly, had at all
events spared no pains to satisfy his employer, and had
furnished him with the flower of his nobility, comprising
Undashi, one of the sons of Tiumman ; Zazaz, prefect of
Billate ; Parru, chief of Khilmu ; Attamitu, commanding
the archers ; and Nesu, commander-in-chief of his forces.
In order to induce Undashi to serve under him, he had not
hesitated to recall to his memory the sad fate of Tiumman :
" Go, and avenge upon Assyria the murder of the father
who begat thee ! The two opposing forces continued to
watch one another s movements without any serious
engagement taking place during the greater part of the

1 The proclamation is dated in the eponymous year of Assur-duruzur,
corresponding to 652 B.C. ; the events which immediately preceded the pro
clamation ought, very probably, to be assigned to the same year.

EL AM DISABLED BY DOMESTIC DISCORD 225

year 651 B.C. ; though the Assyrians won some slight
advantages, killing Attamitu in a skirmish and sending his
head to Nineveh, some serious reverses soon counter
balanced these preliminary successes. Nabo-bel-shumi
had arrived on the scene with his Aramasan forces, and had
compelled the troops engaged in the defence of Uruk and
Urn to lay down their arms : their leaders, including Sin-
tabni-uzur himself, had been forced to renounce the
supremacy of Assyria, and had been enrolled in the rebel
ranks. 1 Operations seemed likely to be indefinitely pro
longed, and Assur-bani-pal, anxious as to the issue, im
portunately besought the gods to intervene on his behalf,
when discords breaking out in the royal family of Elam
caused the scales of fortune once more to turn in his
favour. The energy with which Khumban-igash had
entered on the present struggle had not succeeded in
effacing the disagreeable impression left on the minds of
the majority of his subjects, by the fact that he had
returned to his country in the chariots of the stranger and
had been enthroned by the decree of an Assyrian general.
Tammaritu, of Khaidalu, who had then fought at his side

1 The official accounts say nothing of the intervention of Nabo-bel-shumi
at this juncture, but the information furnished by Tablet K 159 in the
British Museum makes up for their silence. The objection raised by Tiele
to the interpretation given by G. Smith that this passage cannot refer to
Assyrian deserters, falls to the ground if one admits that the Assyrian
troops led into Elam at a subsequent period by Nabo-bel-shumi, were none
other than the garrisons of the Lower Euphrates which were obliged to side
with the insurgents in 651 B.C. The two despatches, K 4696 and K 28 in
the British Museum, which refer to the defection of Sin-tabni-uzur, are
dated the 8th and llth Abu in the eponymous year of Zagabbu, correspond
ing to the year 651 B.C., as indicated by Tiele with very good reason.

VOL, VIII. Q

226 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

in the ranks of the invaders, was now one of those who
reproached him most bitterly for his conduct. He frankly
confessed that his hand had cut off the head of Tiuminan,
but denied that he did so in obedience to the hereditary
enemies of his country ; he had but avenged his personal
injuries, whereas Khumban-igash, following the promptings
of ambition, had kissed the ground at the feet of a slave of
Assur-bani-pal and had received the crown as a recompense
for his baseness. Putting his rival to death, Tammaritu
seized the throne, and in order to prove that he was
neither consciously nor unconsciously an instrument of
Ninevite policy, he at once sent reinforcements to the help
of Babylon without exacting in return any fresh subsidy.
The Assyrians, taking advantage of the isolated position of
Shamash-shumukln, had pressed forward one of their
divisions as far as the districts on the sea coast, which
they had recovered from the power of Nabo-bel-shumi, and
had placed under the administration of Belibni, a person
of high rank. The arrival of the Elamite force was on the
point of further compromising the situation, and rekindling
the flames of war more fiercely than ever, when a second
revolution broke out, which shattered for ever the hopes of
Shamash-shumukin. Assur-bani-pal naturally looked upon
this event as the result of his supplications and sacrifices ;
Assur and Ishtar, in answer to his entreaties, raised up
Indabigash, one of the most powerful feudal lords of the
kingdom of Susa, and incited him to revolt. Tammaritu
fled to the marshes which bordered the N&r-marraturn, and
seizing a vessel, put out to sea with his brothers, his
cousins, seventeen princes of royal blood, and eighty-four

BABYLON DOOMED TO FALL 227

faithful followers : the ship, driven by the wind on to the
Assyrian shore, foundered, and the dethroned monarch,
demoralised by sea-sickness, would have perished in the
confusion had not one of his followers taken him on his
back and carried him safely to land across the mud.
Belibni sent him prisoner to Nineveh with all his suite,
and Assur-bani-pal, after allowing him to humble himself
before him, raised him from the ground, embraced him,
and assigned to him apartments in the palace and a train
of attendants befitting the dignity which he had enjoyed
for a short time at Susa. Indabigash was too fully
occupied with his own affairs to interfere again in the
quarrel between the two brothers : his country, dis
organised by the successive shocks it had sustained, had
need of repose, for some years at least, before re-entering
the lists, except at a disadvantage. He concluded no
direct treaty with the Assyrian king, but he at once with
drew the troops which had entered Karduniash, and
abstained from all hostile demonstrations against the
garrisons of the border provinces : for the moment,
indeed, this was all that was required of him (650 B.C.).

Deprived of the support of Elam, Babylon was doomed
to fall. The Aramaeans deserted her cause, and Nabu-bel-
shumi, grandson of Merodach-baladan, despairing of ever
recovering the heritage of his family, withdrew to his
haunts among the reed beds of the Uknu, taking back
with him as hostages the Assyrians whom he had forced
to join his army at the beginning of the campaign.
Shamash-shumukm, however, was not disconcerted : he
probably hoped that his distant allies might yet effect

228 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

a diversion in his favour, and thus oblige his brother to
withdraw half of the forces employed against him. Indeed,
after the blockade had already begun, a band of Arabs
under the two sheikhs Abiyate and Aamu forced a way
through the besieging lines and entered the city. This
was the last succour which reached Babylon from without :
for many long months all communication between her
citizens and the outer world was completely cut off. The
Assyrians laid waste the surrounding country with ruthless
and systematic cruelty, burning the villages, razing to
the ground isolated houses, destroying the trees, breaking
down the dykes, and filling up the canals. The year 649
B.C. was spent in useless skirmishes ; the city offered an
energetic and obstinate resistance, and as the walls were
thick and the garrison determined, it would not have
succumbed had not the supply of provisions finally failed.
Famine raged in the city, and the inhabitants devoured
even their own children, while pestilence spreading among
them mowed them down by thousands. The Arab auxiliaries
at this juncture deserted the cause of the defenders, and
their sheikhs surrendered to Assur-bani-pal, who received
and pardoned them ; but the Babylonians themselves,
knowing that they could expect no mercy, held out some
time longer : at length, their courage and their strength
exhausted, they rose against their chiefs, whose ambition
or patriotic pride had brought them to such a pass, and
determined to capitulate on any terms. Shamash-shumukm,
not wishing to fall alive into the hands of his brother, shut
himself up in his palace, and there immolated himself on
a funeral pyre with his wives his children, his slaves,

A TERRIBLE SPECTACLE 231

and his treasures at the moment when his conquerors
were breaking down the gates and penetrating into the
palace precincts. 1 The city presented a terrible spectacle,
and shocked even the Assyrians, accustomed as they were
to horrors of this sort. Most of the numerous victims to
pestilence or famine lay about the streets or in the public
squares, a prey to the dogs and swine ; such of the in
habitants and of the soldiery as were comparatively strong
had endeavoured to escape into the country, and only
those remained who had not sufficient strength left to
drag themselves beyond the walls. Assur-bani-pal pursued
the fugitives, and, having captured nearly all of them,
vented on them the full fury of his vengeance. He
caused the tongues of the soldiers to be torn out, and
then had them clubbed to death. He massacred the
common folk in front of the great winged bulls which
had already witnessed a similar butchery half a century
before, under his grandfather Sennacherib ; the corpses of
his victims remained long unburied, a prey to all unclean
beasts and birds. When the executioners and the king
himself were weary of the slaughter, the survivors were
pardoned ; the remains of the victims were collected and
piled up in specified places, the streets were cleansed, and
the temples, purified by solemn lustrations, were reopened

1 G. Smith thought that the Babylonians, rendered furious by their
sufferings, had seized Shainash-shumukin and burnt him to death. It is,
however, certain that Shamash-shumukin killed himself, according to the
Eastern custom, to escape the tortures which awaited him if he fell alive
into the hands of his enemies. The memory of this event, transferred by
the popular imagination to Assur-bani-pal, appears in the concluding portion
of the legendary history of Sardanapalus.

232 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

for worship. 1 Assur-bani-pal proclaimed himself king in
his brother s room : he took the hands of Bel, and,
according to custom, his Babylonian subjects gave him
a new name, that of Kandalanu, by which he was hence
forth known among them. 2 Had he been wise, he would
have completed the work begun by famine, pestilence,
and the sword, and, far from creating a new Babylon, he
would have completed the destruction of the ancient city.
The same religious veneration which had disarmed so
many of his predecessors probably withheld him from giving
free rein to his resentment, and not daring to follow the
example of Sennacherib, he fell back on the expedient
adopted by Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon, adhering to
their idea of two capitals for two distinct states, but en
deavouring to unite in his own person the two irreconcilable

1 The date of 648-647 B.C. for the taking of Babylon and the death of
Shamash-shumukin is corroborated by the Canon of Ptolemy and the frag
ments of Berosus, both of which attribute twenty or twenty-one years to the
reign of Saosdukhin (Sammughes). Lehmann points out a document dated
in the XX th year of Shamash-shumukin, which confirms the exactitude of the
information furnished by the Greek chronologists.

2 The Canon of Ptolemy gives as the successor of Saosdukhin a certain
Kineladan, who corresponds to Kandalanu, whose date has been fixed by
contemporary documents. The identity of Kineladan with Assur-bani-pal
was known from the Greek chronologists, for whereas Ptolemy puts Kine
ladan after Saosdukhin, the fragments of Berosus state that the successor
of Sammughes was his brother ; that is to say, Sardanapalus or Assur-bani-
pal. This identification had been proposed by G. Smith, who tried to find
the origin of the form Kineladan in the name of Sinidinabal, which seems to
be borne by Assur-bani-pal in Tablet K 195 of tlie British Museum, and which
is really the name of his elder brother ; it found numerous supporters as
soon as Pinches had discovered the tablets dated in the reign of Kandalanu,
and the majority of Assyriologists and historians hold that Kandalanu and
Assur-bani-pal are one and the same person.

SHAMASH-DANAXI 233

sovereignties of Marduk and Assur. He delegated the
administration of Babylonian affairs to Shamash-danani,
one of his high officers of State, 1 and re-entered Nineveh
with an amount of spoil almost equalling that taken from
Egypt after the sack of Thehes. Kuta, Sippara, and
Borsippa, the vassal states of Babylon, which had shared
the misfortune of their mistress, were, like her, cleared of
their ruins, rebuilt and repeopled, and were placed under
the authority of Shamash-danani : such was their inherent
vitality that in the short space of ten or a dozen years they
had repaired their losses and reattained their wonted pros
perity. Soon no effect of their disaster remained except
an additional incentive for hating Nineveh, and a determi
nation more relentless than ever not to spare her when the
day of her overthrow should come and they should have
her in their power.

It was impossible for so violent and so prolonged a
crisis to take place without in some degree injuring the
prestige of the empire. Subjects and allies of long standing
remained loyal, but those only recently subjugated by con
quest, as well as the neighbouring independent kingdoms,
without hesitation threw off the yoke of suzerainty or of
obligatory friendship under which they had chafed. Egypt
freed herself from, foreign domination as soon as the
possibilities of war with Elam had shown themselves, and
it was Psammetichus of Sais, son of Necho, one of the
princes most favoured by the court of Nineveh, who set

1 This Shamash-danani, who was limmu in 644 B.C., was called at that
date prefect of Akkad, that is to say, of Babylon. He probably entered on
this office immediately after the taking of the city.

234 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

on foot this campaign against his former patron. He
expelled the Assyrian garrisons, reduced the petty native
princes to submission, and once more set up the kingdom
of the Pharaohs from Elephantine to the Syrian desert,
without Assur-hani-pal having been able to spare a single
soldier to prevent him, or to bring him back to a sense
of his duty. The details of his proceedings are unknown to
us : we learn only that he owed his success to mercenaries
imported from Asia Minor, and the Assyrian chroniclers,
unaccustomed to discriminate between the different peoples
dwelling on the shores of the ^Egean, believed that these
auxiliaries were supplied to the Pharaoh by the only
sovereign with whom they had had any dealings, namely,
Gyges, King of Lydia. That G-yges had had negotiations
with Psammetichus and procured assistance for him has
not yet been proved, but to assert that he was incapable
of conceiving and executing such a design is quite a
different matter. On the contrary, all the information we
possess concerning his reign shows that he was daring in
his political undertakings, and anxious to court alliances
with the most distant countries. The man who tried to
draw Assur-bani-pal into a joint enterprise against the
Cimmerians would not have hesitated to ally himself with
Psammetichus if he hoped to gain the least profit from so
doing. Constant intercourse by sea took place between
Ionia or Caria and Egypt, and no event of any importance
could occur in the Delta without being promptly reported
in Ephesus or Miletus. Before this time the Heraclid
rulers of Sardes had lived on excellent terms with most
of the ^Eolian or Ionian colonies : during the anxious years

GYGES, KING OF LYDIA

235

which followed his accession Gyges went still further, and
entered into direct relations with the nations of Greece
itself. It was no longer to the gods of Asia, to Zeus of
Telmissos, that he addressed himself in order to legitimatise
his new sovereignty, but, like
Midas of Phrygia, he applied
to the prophetic god of
Hellas, to the Delphian
Apollo and his priests. He
recompensed them lavishly
for pronouncing judgment in
his favour: heside the silver
offerings with wilich he en
dowed the temple at Delphi,
he presented to it a number
of golden vases, and, among
others, six craters weighing
thirty talents each, which,
placed by the side of the
throne of Midas, were still
objects of admiration in the
treasury of the Corinthians in
the time of Herodotus. To
these he added at various
times such valuable gifts that the Pythian priestess, who
had hitherto been poor, was in later times accounted
to have owed to him her wealth. Having made sure
of the good will of the immortals, Gyges endeavoured
to extend his influence among the Greek colonies along

1 Drawn by Bouclier, from a photograph.

I SAMMETICHUS I. 1

236 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

the coast, and if he did not in every case gain a footing
amongst them, his failure seems to have been due,
not to his incapacity, but to the force of circumstances
or to the ambiguous position which he happened to
occupy with regard to these colonies. Ambition
naturally incited him to annex them and make them into
Lydian cities, but the bold disposition of their inhabitants
and their impatience of constraint never allowed any
foreign rule to be established over them : conquest, to be
permanent, would have to be preceded by a long period
of alliance on equal terms, and of discreet patronage which
might insensibly accustom them to recognise in their former
friend, first a protector, and then a suzerain imbued with
respect for their laws and constitution. Gyges endeavoured
to conciliate them severally, and to attach them to himself
by treaties favourable to their interests or flattering to
their vanity, and by timely and generous assistance in their
internecine quarrels ; and thus, secretly fostering their
mutual jealousies, he was able to reduce some by force of
arms without causing too much offence to the rest. He
took Colophon, and also, after several fruitless campaigns,
the Magnesia which lay near Sardes, Magnesia of Sipylos,
tradition subsequently adorning this fortunate episode in
his history with various amusing anecdotes. According to
one account he had a favourite in a youth of marvellous
beauty called Magnes, whom the Magnesians, as an act
of defiance to G-yges, had mutilated till he was past
recognition; and it was related that the king appealed
to the fortune of war to avenge the affront. By a bold
stroke he seized the lower quarters of Smyrna, but was

THE WARS OF GYGES WITH THE GREEKS 237

unable to take the citadel, 1 and while engaged in the
struggle with this city, he entered into a friendly under
standing with Ephesus and Miletus. Ephesus, situated at
the mouth of the river Cayster, was the natural port of
Sardes, the market in which the gold of Lydia, and the
commodities imported from the East by the caravans which
traversed the royal route, might be exchanged for the
products of Hellas and of the countries of the West visited
by the Greek mariners. The city was at this time under
the control of a family of rich shipowners, of whom the
head was called Melas : Gyges gave him his daughter in
marriage, and by this union gained free access to the
seaboard for himself and his successors. The reason for
his not pushing his advantages further in this direction is
not hard to discover ; since the fall of the kingdom of
Phrygia had left his eastern frontier unprotected, the
attacks of the Cimmerians had obliged him to concentrate
his forces in the interior, and though he had always
successfully repulsed them, the obstinacy with which these
inroads were renewed year after year prevented him from
further occupying himself with the Greek cities. He had
carefully fortified his vast domains in the basin of the
Ehyndakos, he had reconquered the Troad, and though he
had been unable to expel the barbarians from Adramyttium,
he prevented them from having any inland communications.
Miletus rendered vigorous assistance in this work of

1 Herodotus mentions this war without entering into any details. We
know from Pausanias that the people of Smyrna defended themselves bravely,
and that the poet Mimnermus composed an elegy on this episode in their
history.

238 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

consolidating his power, for she was interested in maintain
ing a buffer state between herself and the marauders who
had already robbed her of Sinope ; and it was for this reason
that Gyges, after mercilessly harassing her at the beginning
of his reign, now preferred to enter into an alliance with
her. He had given the Milesians permission to establish
colonies along the Hellespont and the Propontid at the
principal points where communication took place between
Europe and Asia ; Abydos, Lampsacus, Parium, and
Cyzicus, founded successively by Milesian admirals, pre
vented the tribes which remained in Thrace from crossing
over to reinforce their kinsfolk who were devastating
Phrygia.

G-yges had hoped that his act of deference would
have obtained for him the active support of Assur-bani-
pal, and during the following years he perseveringly
continued at intervals to send envoys to Nineveh : on
one occasion he despatched with the embassy two Cim
merian chiefs taken in battle, and whom he offered in
token of homage to the gods of Assyria. Experience,
however, soon convinced him that his expectations were
vain; the Assyrians, far from creating a diversion in his
favour, were careful to avoid every undertaking which
might draw the attention of the barbarians on them
selves. As soon as Gyges fully understood their policy,
he broke off all connection with them, and thenceforth
relied on himself alone for the protection of his interests.
The disappointment he thus experienced probably stirred
up his auger against Assyria, and if he actually came to the
aid of Psammetichus, the desire of giving expression to

DEFEAT AND DEATH OF GYGES 239

a secret feeling of rancour no doubt contributed to his
decision. Assur-bani-pal deeply resented this conduct,
but Lydia was too far off for him to wreak his vengeance
on it in a direct manner, and he could only beseech
the gods to revenge what he was pleased to consider as
base ingratitude : he therefore prayed Assur and Ishtar
that "his corpse might lie outstretched before his enemies,
and his bones be scattered far and wide." A certain
Tugdami was at that time reigning over the Cimmerians,
and seems to have given to their hitherto undisciplined
hordes some degree of cohesion and guidance.* He
gathered under his standard not only the Treres, the
Thracian kinsfolk of the Cimmerians, but some of the
Asianic tribes, such as the Lycians, 2 who were beginning
to feel uneasy at the growing prosperity of Gyges, and
let them loose upon their Lydian quarry. Their heavy
cavalry, with metal helmets and long steel sw^ords, over
ran the peninsula from end to end, treading down every
thing under their horses hoofs. Gyges did his best to
stand up against the storm, but his lancers quailed
beneath the shock and fled in confusion : he himself
perished in the flight, and his corpse remained in the

1 The name Tugdami, mentioned in the hymn published by Strong, has
been identified by Sayce with the Cimmerian chief mentioned by Strabo
under the name of Lygdamis. The opinion of Sayce has been adopted by
other Assyriologists. The inscription makes Tugdami a king of the Manda,
and thus overthrows the hypothesis that Lygdamis or Dygdamis was a
Lycian chief who managed to discipline the barbarian hordes.

; The alliance of the Lycians with the Cimmerians and Treres is known
from the evidence of Callisthenes presei ved for us by Strabo. It is probable
that many of the marauding tribes of the Taurus Isaurians, Lycaonians,
and Pamphylians similarly joined the Cimmerians.

240

THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

enemy s hands (652 B.C.). The whole of Lydia was
mercilessly ravaged, and the lower town of Sardes was
taken by storm. 1 Ardys, who had succeeded his father
on the throne, was able, however, to save the citadel :
he rallied around him the remnants of his army and
once more took the field. The cities of Ionia made
common cause with him ; their hoplites issued victorious

BATTLE OF THE CIMMERIANS AGAINST THE GREEKS ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR DOGS. 2

from more than one engagement, and their dogs, trained
to harry fearlessly the horses of the enemy, often took
an active part in the battle. City after city was attacked
by the barbarians, and the suburbs plundered. Ephesus,
on account of the wealth it contained, formed their
chief attraction, but their forces dashed themselves fruit
lessly against its walls ; they avenged themselves for their
failure by setting on fire the temple of Artemis which stood

1 Strabo states definitely that it was Lygdamis who took the city. The
account given by the same author of a double destruction of Sardes in G52
and 682 B.C. is due to an unfortunate borrowing from the work of Callis-
thenes.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the sarcophagus of Clazomenas.

ABANDONMENT OF THE SIEGE 241

in the outskirts. This act of sacrilege profoundly stirred
the whole Hellenic world, and when the first fury of pillage
was exhausted, the barbarians themselves seemed to have
been struck with superstitious horror at their crime :
deadly fevers contracted in the marshes near the city
thinned their ranks, and in the scourge which struck
down their forces they recognised the chastisement of
the goddess. 1 The survivors abandoned the siege and
withdrew in disorder towards the mountains of the in
terior. On their way they surprised Magnesia on the
Mseander and entirely destroyed it, but this constituted
their sole military success : elsewhere, they contented
themselves with devastating the fields without venturing
to attack the fortified towns. Scarcely had Ardys freed
himself from their unwelcome presence, than, like his
father before him, he tried to win the support of Assyria.
He sent an envoy to Nineveh with a letter couched in
very humble terms: "The king whom the gods acknow
ledge, art thou ; for as soon as thou hadst pronounced
imprecations against my father, misfortune overtook him.
I am thy trembling servant ; receive my homage graciously,
and I will bear thy yoke ! Assur-bani-pal did not harden
his heart to this suppliant who confessed his fault so
piteously, and circumstances shortly constrained him to
give a more efficacious proof of his favour to Ardys than
he had done in the days of Gyges. On quitting Lydia,

The invasion of Ionia by the Cimmerians is indicated in general terms
by Herodotus ; the details of the attack on Ephesus and the destruction of
the temple of Artemis are preserved in a passage of Callimachus, and in the
fragments quoted by Hesychius.

VOL. VIII. R

242 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Tugdami, with his hordes, had turned eastwards, bent
upon renewing in the provinces of the Taurus and the
Euphrates the same destructive raids which he had made
among the peoples of the JEgean seaboard; but in the
gorges of Cilicia he came into contact with forces much
superior to his own, and fell fighting against them about the
year 645 B.C. His son Sanda-khshatru led the survivors of
this disaster back towards the centre of the peninsula,
but the conflict had been so sanguinary that the Cim
merian power never fully recovered from it. Assur-bani-
pal celebrated the victory won by his generals with a
solemn thanksgiving to Marduk, accompanied by sub
stantial offerings of gold and objects of great value. 1 The
tranquillity of the north-west frontier was thus for a time
secured, and this success most opportunely afforded the
king leisure to turn his attention to those of his vassals
who, having thrown off their allegiance during the war
against Shamash-shumukln, had not yet returned to their
obedience. Among these were the Arabs and the petty
princes of Egypt. The contingents furnished by Yauta,
son of Hazael, had behaved valiantly during the siege
of Babylon, and when they thought the end was approach
ing, their leaders, Abiyate and Aamu, had tried to cut a
way through the Assyrian lines : being repulsed, they
had laid down their arms on condition of their lives being

1 Strabo was aware, perhaps from Xanthus of Lydia, that Lygdamis had
fallen in battle in Cilicia. The hymn to Marduk, published by Strong,
informs us that the Cimmerian chief fell upon the Assyrians, and that his
son Sanda-khshatru carried on hostilities some time longer. Sanda-khshatru
is an Iranian name of the same type as that of the Median king Uva-
khshatra or Cyaxares.

Moorish-Arab Facade

SUBMISSION OF ARABIA 243

spared. There now remained the bulk of the Arab tribes
to be reduced to submission, and the recent experiences of
Esarhaddon had shown the difficulties attending this task.
Assur-bani-pal entrusted its accomplishment to his subjects
in Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Hauran, and Damascus,
since, dwelling on the very borders of the desert, they
were familiar with the routes and the methods of war
fare best suited to the country. They proved victorious
all along the line. Yauta, betrayed by his own subjects,
took refuge with the Nabatasans; but their kiug, Nadanu,
although he did not actually deliver him up to the
Assyrians, refused to grant him an asylum, and the un
happy man was finally obliged to surrender to his pursuers.
His cousin Uate, son of Birdadda, was made chief in his
place by the Assyrians, and Yauta was sent to Nineveh,
where he was exposed at one of the city gates, chained
in a niche beside the watch-dogs. Amuladdin, the lead
ing prince of Kedar, met with no better fate : he was
overcome, in spite of the assistance rendered him by
Adiya, the queen of a neighbouring tribe, and was also
carried away into captivity. His defeat completed the
discouragement of the tribes who still remained unsubdued.
They implored mercy, which Assur-bani-pal granted to
them, although he deposed most of their sheikhs, and
appointed as their ruler that Abiyate who had dwelt at
his court since the capitulation of Bab^ylon. Abiyate took
the oath of fidelity, and was sent back to Kedar, where
he was proclaimed king of all the Arab tribes under the
suzerainty of Assyria. 1

1 The Cylinder B of tlie Brit. Mas. attributes to the reign of Assur-bani-pal

244 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

Of all the countries which had thrown off their
allegiance during the late troubles, Egypt alone remained
unpunished, and it now seemed as if its turn had come to
suffer chastisement for its rebellion. It was, indeed, not
to be tolerated that so rich and so recently acquired a
province should slip from the grasp of the very sovereign
who had completed its conquest, without his making an
effort on the first opportunity to reduce it once more to
submission. Such inaction on his part would be a con
fession of impotence, of which the other vassals of the
empire would quickly take advantage : Tyre, Judah, Moab,
the petty kings of the Taurus, and the chiefs of Media,
would follow the example of Pharaoh, and the whole
work of the last three centuries would have to be done
over again. There can be no doubt that Assur-bani-pal
cherished the secret hope of recovering Egypt in a short
campaign, and that he hoped to attach it to the empire
by more permanent bonds than before, but as a preliminary
to executing this purpose it was necessary to close and
settle if possible the account still open against Elam.
Eecent events had left the two rival powers in such a
position that neither peace nor even a truce of long
duration could possibly exist between them. Elam,
injured, humiliated, and banished from the plains of the
Lower Euphrates, over which she had claimed at all
times an almost exclusive right of pillage, was yet not

a whole series of events, comprising the first submission of Yauta and
the restitution of the statues of Atarsamain, which had taken place under
Esarhaddon. The Assyrian annalists do not seem to have always clearly
distinguished between Yauta, son of Hazael, and Uate, son of Birdadda.

THE REVOLUTIONS IN ELAM 245

sufficiently enfeebled by her disasters to be convinced of
her decided inferiority to Assyria. Only one portion of her
forces, and that perhaps the smallest, had taken the field
and sustained serious reverses : she had still at her dis
posal, besides the peoples of the plain and the marshes who
had suffered the most, those almost inexhaustible reserves
of warlike and hardy mountaineers, whose tribes were
ranged on the heights which bounded the horizon, occupy
ing the elevated valleys of the Uknu, the Ulai, and their
nameless affluents, on the western or southern slopes or in
the enclosed basins of the Iranian table-land. Here Elam
had at her command at least as many men as her
adversaries could muster against her, and though these
barbarian contingents lacked discipline and systematic
training, their bravery compensated for the imperfection
of their military education. Elam not only refused to
admit herself conquered, but she believed herself sure of
final victory, and, as a matter of fact, it is not at all certain
that Assur-bani-pal s generals would ever have completely
triumphed over her, if internal discords and treason had
not too often paralysed her powers. The partisans of
Khumban-igash were largely responsible for bringing about
the catastrophe in which Tiumman had perished, and those
who sided with Tammaritu had not feared to provoke
a revolt at the moment when Khumban-igash was
occupied in Chalda3a ; Indabigash in his turn had risen
in rebellion in the rear of Tammaritu, and his inter
vention had enabled the Assyrians to deal their final
blow at Shamash-shumukin. The one idea of the non-
reigning members of the royal house was to depose the

246 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

reigning sovereign, and they considered all means to
this end as justifiable, whether assassination, revolt,
desertion to the enemy, or defection on the very field of
battle. As soon as one of them had dethroned another,
hatred of the foreigner again reigned supreme in his breast,
and he donned his armour with a firm determination to
bring the struggle to an end, but the course he had pursued
towards his predecessor was now adopted by one of his
relatives towards himself; the enemy meanwhile was still
under arms, and each of these revolutions brought him a
step nearer to the goal of his endeavours, the complete
overthrow of the Elamite kingdom and its annexation to
the empire of Nineveh. Even before the struggle with
Babylon was concluded, Assur-bani-pal had demanded of
Indabigash the release of the Assyrians whom Nabo-bel-
shumu had carried off in his train, besides the extradition
of that personage himself. Indabigash had no desire for
war at this juncture, but hesitated to surrender the Kalda,
who had always served him faithfully: he entered into
negotiations which were interminably prolonged, neither
of the two parties being anxious to bring them to a close.
After the fall of Babylon, Assur-bani-pal, who was
tenacious in his hatred, summoned the Elamite am
bassadors, and sent them back to their master with a
message conceived in the following menacing terms :
thou dost not surrender those men, I will go and destroy
thy cities, and lead into captivity the inhabitants of Susa,
Madaktu, and Khaidalu. I will hurl thee from thy throne,
and will set up another thereon : as aforetime I destroyed
Tiurnman, so will I destroy thee." A detachment of troops

THE REVOLUTIONS IN EL AM 247

was sent to enforce the message of defiance, but when the
messengers had reached the frontier town of Deri, Inda-
higash was no longer there : his nobles had assassinated
him, and had elected Khumban-khaldash, the son of Atta-
metush, king in his stead. The opportunity was a favour
able one to sow the seeds of division in the Elamite camp,
before the usurper should have time to consolidate his
power : Assur-bani-pal therefore threw himself into the
cause of Tammaritu, supporting him with an army to which
many malcontents speedily rallied. The Aramaeans and
the cities of the marsh-lands on the littoral, Khilmu,
Billate, Dummuku, Sulaa, Lakhiru, and Dibirlna, submitted
without a struggle, and the invaders met with no resistance
till they reached Bit-Iinbi. This town had formerly been
conquered by Sennacherib, but it had afterwards returned
to the rule of its ancient masters, who had strongly fortified
it. It now offered a determined resistance, but without
success : its population was decimated, and the survivors
mutilated and sent as captives into Assyria among them
the commander of the garrison, Irnbappi, son-in-law of
Khumban-khaldash, together with the harem of Tiumman,
with his sons and daughters, and all the members of his
family whom his successors had left under guard in the
citadel. The siege had been pushed forward so rapidly that
the king had not been able to make any attempt to relieve
the defenders : besides this, a pretender had risen up against
him, one Umbakhabua, who had been accepted as king by
the important district of Bubilu. The fall of Bit-Imbi
filled the two competitors with fear : they abandoned their
homes and fled, the one to the mountains, the other to the

248 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

lowlands 011 the shores of the Nar-Marratum. Tammaritu
entered Susa in triumph and was enthroned afresh ; but
the insolence and rapacity of his auxiliaries was so
ruthlessly manifested, that at the end of some days he
resolved to rid himself of them by the sword. A traitor
having revealed the design, Tammaritu was seized, stripped
of his royal apparel, and cast into prison. The generals of
Assur-bani-pal had no one whom they could proclaim king
in his stead, and furthermore, the season being well
advanced, the Elamites, who had recovered from their first
alarm, were returning in a body, and threatened to cut off
the Assyrian retreat : they therefore evacuated Susa, and
regained Assyria with their booty. They burnt all the
towns along the route whose walls were insufficient to
protect them against a sudden escalade or an attack of a
few hours duration, and the country between the capital
and the frontier soon contained nothing but heaps of
smoking ruins (647 B.C.). 1

The campaign, which had been so successful at the
outset, had not produced all the results expected from it.
The Assyrians had hoped henceforth to maintain control of
Elam through Tammaritu, but in a short time they had
been obliged to throw aside the instrument with which they
counted on effecting the complete humiliation of the
nation : Khumban-khaldash had reoccupied Susa, following
on the heels of the last Assyrian detachment, and he
reigned as king once more without surrendering Nabo-bel-

i

The difficulty we experience in locating on the map most o the names
of Elamite towns is the reason why we cannot determine with any certainty
the whole itinerary followed by the Assyrian army.

SACK AND DESTRUCTION OF SUSA 249

shunti, or restoring the statue of Nana, or fulfilling any of
the conditions which had been the price of a title to the
throne. Assur-bani-pal was not inclined to bear patiently
this partial reverse ; as soon as spring returned he again
demanded the surrender of the Chaldsean and the goddess,
under pain of immediate invasion. Khumban-khaldash
offered to expel Nabo-bel-shumi from Lakhiru where he
had entrenched himself, and to thrust him towards the
Assyrian frontier, where the king s troops would be able to
capture him. His offer was not accepted, and a second
embassy, headed by Tammaritu, who was once more in
favour, arrived to propose more trenchant terms. The
Elamite might have gone so far as to grant the extradition
of Nabo-bel-shumi, but if he had yielded the point concern
ing Nana, a rebellion would have broken out in the streets
of Susa : he preferred war, and prepared in desperation to
carry it on to the bitter end. The conflict was long and
sanguinary, and the result disastrous for Elam. Bit-Imbi
opened its gates, the district of Rashi surrendered at
discretion, followed by the city of Khamanu and its
environs, and the Assyrians approached Madaktu :
Khumban-khaldash evacuated the place before they
reached it, and withdrew beneath the walls of Dur-Undasi,
on the western bank of the Ididi. His enemies pursued
him thither, but the stream was swift and swollen by rain,
so that for two days they encamped on its bank without
daring to cross, and were perhaps growing discouraged,
when Ishtar of Arbela once more came to the rescue.
Appearing in a dream to one of her seers, she said, " I
myself go before Assur-bani-pal, the king whom my hands

250 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

have created ; the army, emboldened by this revelation,
overcame the obstacle by a vigorous effort, and dashed
impetuously over regions as yet unvisited by any conqueror.
The Assyrians burnt down fourteen royal cities, numberless
small towns, and destroyed the cornfields, the vines, and
the orchards ; Khumban-khaldash, utterly exhausted, fled
to the mountains "like a young dog." Banunu and the
districts of Tasarra, twenty cities in the country of Khumir,
Khaidalu, and Bashimu, succumbed one after another, and
when the invaders at length decided to retrace their steps
to the frontier, Susa, deserted by her soldiers and deprived
of her leaders, lay before them an easy prey. It was not
the first time in the last quarter of a century that the
Assyrians had had the city at their mercy. They had
made some stay in it after the battle of Tulliz, and also
after the taking of Bit-Imbi in the preceding year ; but on
those occasions they had visited it as allies, to enthrone
a king owing allegiance to their own sovereign, and political
exigencies had obliged them to repress their pillaging
instincts and their long-standing hatred. Now that they
had come as enemies, they were restrained by no considera
tions of diplomacy : the city was systematically pillaged,
and the booty found in it was so immense that the sack
lasted an entire month. The royal treasury was emptied of
its gold and silver, its metals and the valuable objects
which had been brought to it from Sumir, Accad, and
Karduniash at successive periods from the most remote
ages down to that day, in the course of the successful
invasions conducted by the princes of Susa beyond the
Tigris ; among them, the riches of the Babylonian temples,

DESECRATION OF THE PROPHETIC STATUES 251

which Shamash-shurnukin had lavished on Tiurnman to
purchase his support, being easily distinguishable. The
furniture of the palace was sent to Nineveh in a long
procession; it comprised beds and chairs of ivory, and
chariots encrusted with enamel and precious stones, the
horses of which were caparisoned with gold. The soldiers
made their way into the ziggurat, tore down the plates of

STATUES OF THE GODS CAIUUED OFF BY ASSYRIAN SOLDIERY. 1

ruddy copper, violated the sanctuary, and desecrated the
prophetic statues of the gods who dwelt within it, shrouded
in the sacred gloom, and whose names were only uttered by
their devotees with trembling lips. Shumudu, Lagamar,
Partikira, Ammankasibar, Uduran, Sapak, Aipaksina, Bilala,
Panintimri, and Kindakarpu, were now brought forth to
the light, and made ready to be carried into exile together
with their belongings and their priests. Thirty-two statues
of the kings, both ancient and modern, in silver, gold,

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from LAYABD, The Monuments of Nineveh.

252 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

bronze, and marble, escorted the gods on tbeir exodus,
among their number being those of Khunibanigash, son of
Umbadara, Shutruk-nakhunta, and Tammaritu II., the
sovereigns who had treated Assyria with the greatest
indignity. The effigy of Khalludush was subjected to
humiliating outrage : "his mouth, with its menacing smile,
was mutilated ; his lips, which breathed forth defiance,
were slit ; his hands, which had brandished the bow
against Assur, were cut off," to avenge, though tardily, the
ill success of Sennacherib. The sacred groves shared the
fate of the temples, and all the riches collected in them by
generations of victors were carried off in cartloads. They
contained, amongst other edifices, the tombs of the ancient
heroes of Elarn, who had feared neither Assur nor Ishtar,
and who had often brought trouble on the ancestors of
Assur-bani-pal. Their sepulchres were violated, their
coffins broken open, their bones collected and despatched
to Nineveh, to crumble finally into dust in the land of
exile : their souls, chained to their mortal bodies, shared
their captivity, and if they were provided with the necessary
sustenance and libations to keep them from annihilation, it
was not from any motives of compassion or pity, but from a
refinement of vengeance, in order that they might the
longer taste the humiliation of captivity. The image of
Nana was found among those of the native gods : it was
now separated from them, and after having been cleansed
from pollution by the prescribed ceremonies, it was
conducted to Uruk, which it entered in triumph on the 1st
of the month Kislev. It was reinstated in the temple it
had inhabited of old : sixteen hundred and thirty-five years

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DISPOSITION OF THE POPULATION 255

had passed since it had been carried off, in the reign of
Ktitur-nakhunta, to dwell as a prisoner in Susa.

Assur-bani-pal had no intention of preserving the
city of Susa from destruction, or of making it the capital
of a province which should comprise the plain of Elam.
Possibly it appeared to him too difficult to defend as
long as the mountain tribes remained unsubdued, or
perhaps the Elamites themselves were not so completely
demoralised as he was pleased to describe them in his
inscriptions, and the attacks of their irregular troops
would have rendered the prolonged sojourn of the Assyrian
garrison difficult, if not impossible. Whatever the reason,
as soon as the work of pillage was fully accomplished,
the army continued its march towards the frontier, carry
ing with it the customary spoil of the captured towns,
and their whole population, or all, at least, who had
not fled at the approach of the enemy. The king reserved
for himself the archers and pikemen, whom he incor
porated into his own bodyguard, as well as the artisans,
smelters, sculptors, and stonemasons, whose talents he
turned to account in the construction and decoration of
his palaces ; the remainder of the inhabitants he appor
tioned, like so many sheep, to the cities and the temples,
governors of provinces, officers of state, military chiefs,
and private soldiers. Khumban-khaldash reoccupied Susa
after the Assyrians had quitted it, but the misery there
was so great that he could not endure it : he therefore
transferred his court to Madaktu, one of the royal cities
which had suffered least from the invasion, and he there
tried to establish a regular government. Eival claimants

256 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

to the throne had sprung up, but he overcame them
without much difficulty: one of them, named Pae, took
refuge in Assyria, joining Tammaritu and that little band
of dethroned kings or pretenders to the throne of Susa,
of whom Assur-bani-pal had so adroitly made use to
divide the forces of his adversary. Khumban-khaldash
might well believe that the transportation of the statue
of Nana and the sack of Susa had satisfied the vengeance
of the Assyrians, at least for a time, and that they would
afford him a respite, however short ; but he had reckoned
without taking into consideration the hatred which had
pursued Nabo-bel-shumi during so many years: an envoy
followed him as far as Madaktu, and offered Khumbau-
khaldash once more the choice between the extradition
of the Chaldean or the immediate reopening of hostilities.
He seems to have had a moment s hesitation, but when
Nabo-bel-shumi was informed of the terms offered by the
envoy, "life had no more value in his eyes: he desired
death." He ordered his shield-bearer to slay him, and
when the man refused to do so, declaring that he could
not live without his master, they stabbed each other
simultaneously, and perished, as they had lived, together.
Khumban-khaldash, delivered by this suicide from his
embarrassments, had the corpse of the master and the
head of the faithful shield-bearer duly embalmed, and sent
them to Nineveh. Assur-bani-pal mutilated the wretched
body in order to render the conditions of life in the other
world harder for the soul : he cut off its head, and forbade
the burial of the remains, or the rendering to the dead
of the most simple offerings. About this time the

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE ARABS OF KEDAR 25?

inhabitants of Blt-Imbi, of Til-Khumba, and a dozen other
small towns, who had fled for refuge to the woods of
Mount Saladri, caine forth from their hiding-places and
cast themselves on the mercy of the conqueror : he
deigned to receive them graciously, and enrolled them in
his guard, together with the prisoners taken in the last
campaign. He was contented to leave Elam to itself
for the moment, as he was disquieted at the turn affairs
were taking in Arabia. Abiyate, scarcely seated on the
throne, had refused to pay tribute, and had persuaded
Uate and Nadanu to join him in his contumacy; several
cities along the Phoenician seaboard, led away by his
example, shut their gates and declared themselves in
dependent. Assur-bani-pal had borne all- this patiently,
while the mass of his troops were engaged against
Khumban-khaldash ; but after the destruction of Susa,
he determined to revenge himself. His forces left Nineveh
in the spring of 642 B.C., crossed the Euphrates, and the
line of wooded hills which bordered the course of the
river towards the west, provisioned themselves with water
at the halting-place of Laribda, and plunged into the
desert in search of the rebels. The Assyrians overran the
country of Mash, from the town of larki to Azalla, where
" there dwell no beasts of the field, where no bird of the
sky builds its nest," and then, after filling their water-
skins at the cisterns of Azalla, they advanced boldly into
the thirsty lands which extend towards Qurazite; they
next crossed the territory of Kedar, cutting down the
trees, filling up the wells, burning the tents, and reached
Damascus from the north-east side, bringing in their train

VOL. VIII. S

258 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

innumerable flocks of asses, sheep, camels, and slaves.
The Bedawin of the north had remained passive, but
the Nabatheans, encouraged by the remoteness of their
country and the difficulty of access to it, persisted in their
rebellion. The Assyrian generals did not waste much
time in celebrating their victory in the Syrian capital : on
the 3rd of Ab, forty days after leaving the Chaldean
frontier, they started from Damascus towards the south,
and seized the stronghold of Khalkhuliti, at the foot
of the basaltic plateau overlooked by the mountains of
the Hauran; they then destroyed all the fortresses of
the country one after another, driving the inhabitants to
take shelter in the rugged range of volcanic rocks, where
they were blockaded, and finally reduced by famine :
Abiyate capitulated, Nadanu ransomed himself by a promise
of tribute, and the whole desert between Syria and the
Euphrates fell once more into the condition of an Assyrian
province. Before returning to Nineveh, Assur-bani-pal s
generals inflicted chastisement on Akko and Ushu, the
two chief Tyrian cities which had revolted, and this
vigorous action confirmed the fidelity of the Assyrian
vassals in Palestine. Uate s life was spared, but his lip
and cheek were pierced by the hand of the king himself,
and he was led by a cord passed through the wounds, as
if he had been a wild beast intended for domestication ;
a dog s collar was riveted round his neck, and he was
exposed in a cage at one of the gates of Nineveh. Aamu,
the brother of Abiyate, was less fortunate, for he was
flayed alive before the eyes of the mob. Assyria was
glutted with the spoil : the king, as was customary,

THE FINAL CONVULSIONS OF ELAM 259

reserved for his own service the able-bodied men for
the purpose of recruiting his battalions, distributing the
remainder among his officers and soldiers. The camels
captured were so numerous that their market-value was
for a long time much reduced ; they were offered in the
open market, like sheep, for a half-shekel of silver apiece,
and the vendor thought himself fortunate to find a
purchaser even at this price.

The final ruin of Elam followed swiftly on the subjuga
tion of Arabia. While one division of the army was
scouring the desert, the remainder were searching the
upland valleys of the Ulal and the Uknu, and relentlessly
pursuing Khumban-khaldash. The wretched monarch was
now in command of merely a few bands of tattered
followers, and could no longer take the field ; the approach
of the enemy obliged him to flee from Madaktu, and
entrench himself on the heights. Famine, misery, and
probably also the treachery of his last adherents, soon
drove him from his position, and, despairing of his cause,
he surrendered himself to the officers who were in pursuit
of him. He was the third king of Elam whom fate had
cast alive into the hands of the conqueror : his arrival
at Nineveh afforded the haughty Assur-bani-pal an occasion
for celebrating one of those triumphal processions in which
his proud soul delighted, and of going in solemn state to
thank the gods for the overthrow of his most formidable
enemy. On the day when he went to prostrate himself
before Assur and Ishtar, he sent for Tammaritu, Pa,
and Khumban-khaldash, and adding to them Uat, who
was taken out of his cage for the occasion, he harnessed

260 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

all four to his chariot of state, and caused himself to be
drawn through Nineveh by this team of fallen sovereigns
to the gate of the temple of E-mashmash. And, indeed,
at that moment, he might reasonably consider himself as
having reached the zenith of his power. Egypt, it is
true, still remained unpunished, and its renewed vitality
under the influence of the Saite Pharaohs allowed no
hope of its being speedily brought back into subjection,
but its intrigues no longer exerted any influence over
Syria, and Tyre itself appeared to be resigned to the
loss of its possessions on the mainland. Lydia under
the rule of Ardys continued to maintain intermittent
intercourse with its distant protector. The provinces of
the Taurus, delivered from the terror inspired by the
Cimmerians, desired peace above all things, and the
Mannai had remained quiet since the defeat of Akhsheri.
Babylon was rapidly recovering from the ills she had
endured. She consoled herself for her actual servitude
by her habitual simulation of independence; she called
Assur-bani-pal Kandalanu, and this new name allowed
her to fancy she had a separate king, distinct from the
King of Assyria. Elam no longer existed. Its plains
and marsh lands were doubtless occupied by Assyrian
garrisons, and formed an ill-defined annexation to Nineveh ;
the mountain tribes retained their autonomy, and although
still a source of annoyance to their neighbours by their
raids or sudden incursions, they no longer constituted
a real danger to the state : if there still remained some
independent Elamite states, Elam itself, the most ancient,
except Babylon, of all the Asiatic kingdoms, was erased

THE FINAL CONVULSIONS OP ELAM 261

from the map of the world. The memories of her actual
history were soon effaced, or were relegated to the region
of legend, where the fabulous Memnon supplanted in the
memory of men those lines of hardy conquerors who had
levied tribute from Syria in the day when Nineveh was
still an obscure provincial town. Assyria alone remained,
enthroned on the ruins of the past, and her dominion
seemed established for all time ; yet, on closer investiga
tion, indications were not wanting of the cruel sufferings
that she also had endured. Once again, as after the
wars of Tiglath-pileser I. and those of Assur-nazir-pal
and Shalmaneser III., her chiefs had overtaxed her powers
by a long series of unremitting wars against vigorous foes.
Doubtless the countries comprised within her wide empire
furnished her with a more ample revenue and less restricted
resources than had been at the command of the little
province of ancient days, which had been bounded by the
Khabur and the Zab, and lay on the two banks of the
middle course of the Tigris ; but, on the other hand,
the adversaries against whom she had measured her forces,
and whom she had overthrown, were more important and
of far greater strength than her former rivals. She had
paid dearly for humiliating Egypt and laying Babylon in
the dust. As soon as Babylon was overthrown, she had,
without pausing to take breath, joined issue with Elam,
and had only succeeded in triumphing over it by drawing
upon her resources to the utmost during many years :
when the struggle was over, she realised to what an extent
she had been weakened by so lavish an outpouring of the
blood of her citizens. The Babylonian and Elarnite

262 THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH

recruits whom she incorporated into her army after each
of her military expeditions, more or less compensated for
the void which victory itself had caused in her population
and her troops ; but the fidelity of these vanquished foes
of yesterday, still smarting from their defeat, could not
be relied on, and the entire assimilation of their children
to their conquerors was the work of at least one or two
generations. Assyria, therefore, was on the eve of one of
those periods of exhaustion which had so often enfeebled
her national vitality and imperilled her very existence.
On each previous occasion she had, it is true, recovered
after a more or less protracted crisis, and the brilliancy
of her prospects, though obscured for a moment, appeared
to be increased by their temporary eclipse. There was,
therefore, good reason to hope that she would recover
from her latest phase of depression ; and the only danger
to be apprehended was that some foreign power, profiting
by her momentary weakness, might rise up and force her,
while still suffering from the effects of her heroic labours,
to take the field once more.

THE MEDES AND THE SECOND
CHALDEAN EMPIRE

THE FALL OP NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDEAN AND MEDIAN
EMPIRES THE XXVI th EGYPTIAN DYNASTY : CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND
NEBUCHADREZZAR.

The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the
Medes with the Assyrians : the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta Media
proper, its fauna and flora ; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire
Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes The last
monuments of Assur-bani-pal : the library of Kouyunjik Phraortes defeated
and slain by the Assyrians.

Cyaxares and his first attack on Nineveh The Assyrian triangle and the
defence of Nineveh : Assur-bani-pal summons the Scythians to his aid The
Scythian invasion Judah under Manasseh and Amon : development in the con
ceptions of the prophets The Scythians in Syria and on the borders of Egypt:
they are defeated and driven back by Cyaxares The last kings of Nineveh and

( 264 )

Nabopolassar Taking and destruction of Nineveh: division of the Assyrian
empire betioeen the Chald-xans and the Medes (608 B.C.).

The XXVI th Egyptian dynasty Psammetichus I. and the Ionian and Carian
mercenaries ; final retreat of the Ethiopians and the annexation of the Theban
principality ; the end of Egypt as a great power First Greek settlements in the
Delta; flight of the Mashauasha and the reorganisation of the army Resump
tion of important works and the renaissance of art in Egypt The occupation of
Ashdod, and the Syrian policy of Psammetichus I.

Josiah, King of Judah : the discovery and public reading of the Booh of the
Covenant ; the religious reform Necho II. invades Syria : Josiah slain at
Megiddo, the battle of Carchemish Nebuchadrezzar II. : his policy with regard
to Media The conquests of Cyaxares and the struggles of the Mermnadse against
the Greek colonies The war between Alyattes and Cyaxares: the battle of the
Halys and the peace of 585 B.C. Necho reorganises his army and his fleet : the
circumnavigation of Africa Jeremiah and the Egyptian party in Jerusalem: the
revolt of Jehoiakim and the captivity of Jehoiachin.

Psammetichus I. and Zedelciah Apries and the revolt of Tyre and of Judah :
the siege and destruction of Jerusalem The last convulsions of Judah and the
submission of Tyre ; the successes of Apries in Phoenicia The Greeks in Libya
and the founding of Gyrene : the defeat of Irasa and the fall of Apries
Amasis and the campaign of Nebuchadrezzar against Egypt Relations between
Nebuchadrezzar and Astyages The fortifications of Babylon and the rebuilding
of the Great Ziggurdt The successors of Nebuchadrezzar : Nabonidus.

SCYTHIANS LASSOING HORSES.

CHAPTER III

THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD/EAN

EMPIRE

The fall of Nineveh and the rise of the Chaldsean and Median empires The
XXVI th Egyptian dynasty : Cyaxares, Alyattes, and Nebuchadrezzar.

rFHE East was ever a land of kaleido
scopic changes and startling dramatic
incidents. An Oriental empire, even
when built up by strong hands and
watched over with constant vigilance,
scarcely ever falls to pieces in the slow
and gradual process of decay arising
from the ties that bind it together becom
ing relaxed or its constituent elements
growing antiquated. It perishes, as a rule,
in a cataclysm ; its ruin comes like a bolt

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the silver vase of Tchertomlitsk, now
in the museum of the Hermitage. The vignette is also drawn by Faucher-
Gudin, and represents an Egyptian torso in the Turin museum ; the cartouche
which is seen upon the arm is that of Psammetichus I.

266 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

from the blue, and is consummated before the commence
ment of it is realised. One day it stands proud and
stately in the splendour of its glory ; there is no report
abroad but that which tells of its riches, its industry, its
valour, the good government of its princes and the irresist
ible might of its gods, and the world, filled with envy or
with fear, deeming its good fortune immutable, never
once applies to it, even in thought, the usual common
places on the instability of human things. Suddenly an
ill wind, blowing up from the distant horizon, bursts upon
it in destructive squalls, and it is overthrown in the
twinkling of an eye, amid the glare of lightning, the
resounding crash of thunder, whirlwinds of dust and rain :
when the storm has passed away as quickly as it came,
its mutterings heralding the desolation which it bears to
other climes, the brightening sky no longer reveals the old
contours and familiar outlines, but the sun of history
rises on a new empire, emerging, as if by the touch of a
magic wand, from the ruins which the tempest has wrought.
There is nothing apparently lacking of all that, in the
eyes of the many, invested its predecessor with glory ; it
seems in no wise inferior in national vigour, in the number
of its soldiers, in the military renown of its chiefs, in the
proud prosperity of its people, or in the majesty of its gods ;
the present fabric is as spacious and magnificent, it would
seem, as that which has but just vanished into the limbo of
the past. No kingdom ever shone with brighter splendour,
or gave a greater impression of prosperity, than the kingdom
of Assyria in the days succeeding its triumphs over Elam
and Arabia : precisely at this point the monuments and

CHALD^EA IN THE VAN OF THE NATIONS 267

other witnesses of its activity fail us, just as if one of the
acts of the piece in which it had played a chief part having
come to an end, the drop-curtain must be lowered, amid a
flourish of trumpets and the illuminations of an apotheosis,
to allow the actors a little breathing-space. Half a century
rolls by, during which we have a dim perception of the sub
dued crash of falling empires, and of the trampling of armies
in fierce fight ; then the curtain rises on an utterly different
drama, of which the plot has been woven behind the scenes,
and the exciting motif h&s just come into play. We no
longer hear of Assyria and its kings ; their palaces are in
ruins ; their last faithful warriors sleep in unhonoured
graves beneath the ashes of their cities, their prowess is
credited to the account of half a dozen fabulous heroes such
as Ninus, Sardanapalus, and Semiramis heroes whose
names call up in the memory of succeeding generations
only vague but terrible images, such as the phantasies of a
dream, which, although but dimly remembered in the
morning, makes the hair to stand on end with terror.
The nations which erewhile disputed the supremacy with
Assyria have either suffered a like eclipse such as the
Khati, Urartu, the Cosssans, and Elam or have fallen
like Egypt and Southern Syria into the rank of second-rate
powers. It is Chalda3a which is now in the van of the
nations, in company with Lydia and with Media, whose
advent to imperial power no one would have ventured to
predict forty or fifty years before.

The principality founded by Deiokes about the beginning
of the seventh century B.C., seemed at first destined to
play but a modest part ; it shared the fortune of the

268 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

semi-barbarous states with which the Ninevite conquerors
came in contact on the western boundary of the Iranian
plateau, and from which the governors of Arrapkha or of
Kharkhar had extorted tribute to the utmost as often as
occasion offered. According to one tradition, it had only
three kings in an entire century : Deiokes up till 655 B.C.,
Phraortes from 655 to 633, and after the latter year
Cyaxares, the hero of his race. 1 Another tradition claimed
an earlier foundation for the monarchy, and doubled both
the number of the kings and the age of the kingdom. 2 This

1 This is the tradition gleaned by Herodotus, probably at Sardes, from
the mouths of Persians residing in that city.

1 This is the tradition derived from the court of Artaxerxes by Ctesias
of Cniclus. Volney discovered the principle upon which the chronology of
his Median dynasty was based by Ctesias. If we place his list side by side
with that of Herodotus

HERODOTUS.

Interregnum .... a;
Deiokes 53

Phraortes 22

Cyaxares 40

CTESIAS.

Arbakes 28

Mandaukas .... 50

Sosarmos 30

Artykas 50

Arbianes 22

Artaios 40

Artynes 22

Astibaras ... .40

we see that, while rejecting the names given by Herodotus, Ctesias repeats
twice over the number of years assigned by the latter to the reigns of his
kings, at least for the four last generations

f Arbianes . 22

Phraortes . 22 j Artaios . . 40 ]

[ Artynes . . 22 | Cyaxares . . 40

Astibaras . 40;

At the beginning Herodotus gives before Deiokes an interregnum of
uncertain duration. Ctesias substituted the round number of fifty years
for the fifty-three assigned to Deiokes, and replaced the interregnum by a

THE LEGEND OF THE MEDIAN KINGS 269

tradition ignored the monarchs who had rendered the
second Assyrian empire illustrious, and substituted for
them a line of inactive sovereigns, reputed to be the des
cendants of Ninus and Semiramis. The last of them,
Sardanapalus, had, according to this account, lived a life
of self-indulgence in his harem, surrounded by women,
dressing himself in their garb, and adopting feminine
occupations and amusements. The satrap of Media,
Arbakes, saw him at his toilet, and his heart turned
against yielding obedience to such a painted doll : he re
belled in concert with Belesys the Babylonian. The
imminence of the danger thus occasioned roused Sar
danapalus from his torpor, and revived in him the warlike
qualities of his ancestors ; he placed himself at the head of
his troops, overcame the rebels, and was about to extermin
ate them, when his hand was stayed by the defection of
some Bactrian auxiliaries. He shut himself up in Nineveh,
and for two whole years heroically repulsed all assaults ; in
the third year, the Tigris, swollen by the rains, overflowed
its banks and broke down the city walls for a distance of
twenty stadia. The king thereupon called to mind an
oracle which had promised him victory until the day when

reign which he estimated at the mean duration of a human generation, thirty
years ; he then applied to this new pair of numbers the process of doubling
he had employed for the couple mentioned above

Arbakes . 28

( Mandaukas 50

Interregnum . x

Deiokes . . 53 j Sosarmos . 30

( Artykas . 50

The number twenty-eight has been attributed to the reign of Arbakes,
instead of the number thirty, to give an air of truthfulness to the whole
catalogue.

270 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

the river should betray him. Judging that the prediction
was about to be accomplished, he resolved not to yield him
self alive to the besieger, and setting fire to his palace,
perished therein, together with his children and his
treasures, about 788 B.C. Arbakes, thus rendered an in
dependent sovereign, handed down the monarchy to his
son Mandaukas, and he in his turn was followed succes
sively by Sosarmos, Artykas, Arbianes, Artaios, Artynes,
and Astibaras. 1 These names are not the work of pure
invention ; they are met with in more than one Assyrian
text : among the petty kings who paid tribute to Sargon are
enumerated some which bear such names as Mashdaku, 2
Ashpanda, 3 Arbaku, and Khartukka, 4 and many others, of
whom traces ought to be found some day among the
archives of princely families of later times. There were
in these archives, at the disposal of scribes and strangers
inclined to reconstruct the history of Asia, a supply of
materials of varying value authentic documents inscribed
on brick tablets, legends of fabulous exploits, epic poems
and records of real victories and conquests, exaggerated in

L Oppert thought that the names given by Herodotus represented
" Aryanised forms of Turanian names, of which Ctesias has given the Persian
translation."

1 Mashdaku is identified by Host with the Mandaukas or Maydaukas of
Ctesias, which would then be a copyist s error for Masdaukas. The identi
fication with Vashd[t]aku, Vashtak, the name of a fabulous king of Armenia,
is rejected by Host ; Mashdaku would be the Iranian Mazdaka, preserved
in the Mazakes of Arrian.

1 Ashpanda is the Aspandas or Aspadas which Ctesias gives instead of
the Astyages of Herodotus.

The name of Artykas is also found in the secondary form Kardikeas,
which is nearer the Khartukka of the Assyrian texts.

THE MEDES AND ASSYRIANS 271

accordance with the vanity or the interest of the composer :
from these elements it was easy to compile lists of Median
kings which had no real connection with each other as far as
their names, order of succession, or duration of reign were
concerned. The Assyrian chronicles have handed down to
us, in place of these dynasties which were alleged to have
exercised authority over the whole territory, a considerable
number of noble houses scattered over the country, each of
them autonomous, and a rival of its neighbour, and only
brought into agreement with one another at rare intervals by
their common hatred of the invader. Some of them were
representatives of ancient races akin to the Susians, and per
haps to the first inhabitants of Chaldsea ; others belonged
to tribes of a fresh stock, that of the Aryans, and more
particularly to the Iranian branch of the Aryan family. We
catch glimpses of them in the reign of Shalmaneser III.,
who calls them the Amadal ; then, after this first brush with
Assyria, intercourse and conflict between the two nations
became more and more frequent every year, until the
" distant Medes " soon began to figure among the regular
adversaries of the Ninevite armies, and even the haughtiest
monarchs refer with pride to victories gained over them.
Ramman-nirari waged ceaseless war against them, Tiglath-
pileser III. twice drove them before him from the south-west
to the north-east as far as the foot of Demavend, while
Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, during their re
spective reigns, kept anxious watch upon them, and en
deavoured to maintain some sort of authority over
the tribes which lay nearest to them. Both in the
personal names and names of objects which have come

272 THE MEDES AXD THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

down to us in the records of these campaigns, we detect
Iranian characteristics, in spite of the Semitic garb with
which the inscriptions have invested them : among the
names of countries we find Partukka, Diristanu, Patusharra,
Nishaia, Urivzan, Abiruz, and Ariarma, while the men bear
such names as Ishpabarra, Eparna, Shitirparna, Uarzan,
and Dayaukku. As we read through the lists, faint resem
blances in sound awaken dormant classical memories, and
the ear detects familiar echoes in the names of those
Persians whose destinies were for a time linked with those
of Athens and Sparta in the days of Darius and of Xerxes :
it is like the first breath of Greek influence, faint and almost
imperceptible as yet, wafted to us across the denser atmo
sphere of the East.

The Iranians had a vague remembrance of a bygone
epoch, during which they had wandered, in company with
other nations of the same origin as themselves, in that
cradle of the Aryan peoples, Aryanem-Vaejo. Modern
historians at first placed their mythical birthplace in the
wilder regions of Central Asia, near the Oxus and the
Jaxartes, and not far from the so-called table-land of
Pamir, which they regarded as the original point of
departure of the Indo-European races. They believed
that a large body of these primitive Aryans must have
descended southwards into the basin of the Indus and its
affluents, and that other detachments had installed them
selves in the oases of Margiana and Khorasmia, while the
Iranians would have made their way up to the plateau
which separates the Caspian Sea from the Persian Gulf,
where they sought to win for themselves a territory

TRADITIONAL IRANIAN MIGRATIONS 273

sufficient for their wants. The compilers of the sacred
books of the Iranians claimed to be able to trace each
stage of their peregrinations, and to describe the various
accidents which befell them during this heroic period of
their history. According to these records, it was no mere
chance or love of adventure which had led them to wander
for years from clime to clime, but rather a divine decree.
While Almromazdao, the beneficent deity whom they
worshipped, had provided them with agreeable resting-
places, a perverse spirit, named Angromainyus, had on
every occasion rendered their sojourn there impossible,
by the plagues which he inflicted on them. Bitter cold,
for instance, had compelled them to forsake Aryanem-
Vaejo and seek shelter in Sughdha and Muru. 1 Locusts
had driven them from Sughdha; the incursions of the
nomad tribes, coupled with their immorality, had forced
them to retire from Muru to Bakhdhi, "the country of
lofty banners," and subsequently to Nisaya, which lies
to the south-east, between Muru and Bakhdhi. From
thence they made their way into the narrow valleys of
the Haroyu, and overran Vaekereta, the land of noxious
shadows. 3 From this point forwards, the countries

1 Sughdha is Sogdiana ; Muru, in ancient Persian Margush, is the
modern Merv, the Margiana of classical geographers.

2 Bakhdhi is identical with Bactriana, but, as Spiegel points out, this
Avestic form is comparatively recent, and readily suggests the modern Balkh,
in which the consonants have become weakened.

The A vesta places Nisaya between Muru and Bakhdhi to distinguish
it from other districts of the same name to be found in this part of Asia :
Eugene Burnouf is probably correct in identifying it with the Nesgea of
Strabo and of Ptolemy, which lay to the south of Margiaua, at the junction
of the roads leading to Hyrcania in one direction and Bactriana in the other.
VOL. VIII. T

274 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

mentioned by their chroniclers are divided into two
groups, lying in opposite directions : Arahvaiti, Haeturnant,

THE LANDS

created by

-MAZDA

Desert
f Media

and Haptahindu 1 on the east ; and on the west, Urva, 2

Haroyu or Haraeva is the Greek Aria, the modern province of Herat. The
Pehlevi commentators identify Vaekereta with Kabulistan, and also
volunteer the following interpretation of the title which accompanies the
name : " The shadow of the trees there is injurious to the body, or as some
say, the shadow of the mountains," and it produces fever there. Arguing
from passages of similar construction, Lassen was led to recognise in the
epithet duzhoko-shaycmem a place-name, " inhabitant of Duzhako," which he
identified with a ruined city in this neighbourhood called Dushak ; Haug
believed he had found a confirmation of this hypothesis in the fact that the
Pairika Khnathaiti created there by Angro-mainyus recalls in sound, at
any rate, the name of the people Parikani mentioned by classical writers, as
inhabiting these regions.

1 Arahvaiti, the Harauvatish of the Achjemenian inscriptions, is the
Greek Arachosia, and Haetumant the basin of their Etymander, the modern
Helmend ; in other words, the present province of Seistan. Hapta-Hindu
is the western part of the Indian continent, i.e. the Punjaub.

2 The Pehlevi commentators identify Urva with Mesene, mentioned by
classical writers, at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, or perhaps
the plain around Ispahan which bore the name of Masan in the Sassanid
period. Fr. Lenormant had connected it with the name Urivzan, which is
applied in the Assyrian inscriptions to a district of Media in the time of
Tiglath-pileser III.

TRADITIONAL IRANIAN MIGRATIONS 275

Khnenta-Vehrkana, 1 Khaga, 2 and Chakhra, 3 as far as the
districts of Varena* and the basin of the Upper Tigris. 5
This legend was composed long after the event, in order
to explain in the first place the relationship between the
two great families into which the Oriental Aryans were
divided, viz. the Indian and Iranian, and in the second
to account for the peopling by the Iranians of a certain
number of provinces between the Indus and the Euphrates.
As a matter of fact, it is more likely that the Iranians
came originally from Europe, and that they migrated
from the steppes of Southern Kussia into the plains of
the Kur and the Araxes by way of Mount Caucasus. 6 It
is possible that some of their hordes may have endeavoured

1 The name Khnenta seems to have been Hellenised into that of
Kharindas, borne by a river which formed the frontier between Hyrcania
and Media ; according to the Pehlevi version it was really a river of Hyrcania,
the Djordjan. The epithet Vehrkana, which qualifies the name Khnenta,
has been identified by Burnouf with the Hyrcania of classical geographers.

2 Raglia is identified with Azerbaijan in the Pehlevi version of the
Vendidad, but is, more probably, the Rhagse of classical geographers, the
capital of Eastern Media.

3 Chakhra seems to be identical with the country of Karkh, at the north
western extremity of Khorassan.

4 Varena is identified by the Pehlevi commentators with Patishkhvargar,
i.e. probably the Patusharra of the Assyrian inscriptions.

Haug proposed to identify this last station with the regions situated
on the shores of the Caspian, near the south-western corner of that sea. But,
as Garrez points out, the Pehlevi commentators prove that it must be the
countries on the Upper Tigris.

3 Spiegel has argued that Aryanem-Vaejo is probably Arran, the modem
Kazabadagh, the mountainous district between the Kur and the Aras, and
his opinion is now gaining acceptance. The settlement of the Iranians in
Kussia, and their entrance into Asia by way of the Caucasus, have been
admitted by Rost. Classical writers reversed this order of things, and
derived the Sauromatte and other Scythian tribes from Media.

276 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

to wedge themselves in between the Halys and the
Euphrates as far as the centre of Asia Minor. Their
presence in this quarter would explain why we encounter
Iranian personal names in the Sargonide epoch on the
two spurs of Mount Taurus, such as that of the Kushtashpi,
King of Kummukh, in the time of Tiglath-pileser III., and
of the Kundashpi mentioned in the Annals of Shalinaneser
III. in the ninth century B.C. 1 The main body, finding its
expansion southwards checked by Urartu, diverged in a
south-easterly direction, and sweeping before it all the
non-Aryan or Turanian tribes who were too weak to stem
its progress, gradually occupied the western edge of the
great plateau, where it soon became mainly represented
by the two compact groups, the Persians to the south on
the farthest confines of Elam, and the Medes between
the Greater Zab, the Turnat, and the Caspian. It is
probable that the kingdom founded by De iokes originally
included what was afterwards termed Media Magna by
the GraBCO-Koman geographers. This sovereignty was
formed by the amalgamation under a single monarch of
six important tribes the Buza?, Para3takeni, Struchatse,
Arizanti, Budii, and Magi. It extended north-westwards
as far as the Kiziluzen, which formed the frontier between

1 The name Kushtashpi has been compared with that of Vistaspa or
Gushtasp by Fr. Lenormant, the name Kundashpi with that of Vindaspa by
Gutschmid, and, later on, Ball has added to these a long list of names in
Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions which he looks upon as Iranian. Kun
dashpi recalls at first sight Gundobunas, a name of the Sassanid epoch, if
this latter form be authentic. Tiele adopts the identification of Kushtashpi
with Vistaspa, and Justi has nothing to say against it, nor against the
identification of Kundashpi with Vindaspa.

MEDIA ITS FLORA AND FAUNA 277

the Persians and the Mannai on this side. Northwards,
it reached as far as Demavend ; the salt desert that
rendered Central Iran a barren region, furnished a natural
boundary on the east ; on both the south and west, the
Assyrian border-lands of Ellipi, Kharkhar, and Arrapkha
prevented it from extending to the chief ranges of the
Zagros and Gordigean mountains. The soil, though less
fertile than that of Chaldsea or of Egypt, was by no
means deficient in resources. The mountains contained
copper, iron, lead, some gold and silver, 1 several kinds
of white or coloured marble, 2 and precious stones, such
as topaz, garnets, emeralds, sapphires, cornelian, and
lapis-lazuli, the latter being a substance held in the
highest esteem by Eastern jewellers from time immemorial;
Mount Bikni was specially celebrated for the fine specimens
of this stone which were obtained there. 3 Its mountains
were in those days clothed with dense forests, in which the
pine, the oak, and the poplar grew side by side with the
eastern plane tree, the cedar, lime, elm, ash, hazel, and
terebinth. 4 The intermediate valleys were veritable

Rawlinson has collected traditions in reference to gold and silver
mining among the mountains in the neighbourhood of Takht-i-Suleiman ; one
of these is still called Zerreh-Shardn, the mount of the gold-washers.

The best known was the so-called Tauris marble quarried from the
hills in the neighbourhood of Lake Urumiyah.

The list of precious stones which Pliny tells us were found in Media,
contains several kinds which we are unable to identify, e.g. the Zathene, the
gassinades and narcissitis. Pliny calls lapis-lazuli sapphirus, and declares
that the bright specks of pyrites it contained rendered it unsuitable for
engraving. In the Assyrian inscriptions Mount Bikni, the modern
Demavend, is described as a mountain of Uknu, or lapis-lazuli.

A large part of the mountains and plains is now treeless, but it is
manifest, both from the evidence of the inscriptions and from the

278 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

orchards, in which the vegetation of the temperate zones
mingled with tropical growths. The ancients believed
that the lemon tree came originally from Persia. 1 To this
day the peach, pear, apple, quince, cherry, apricot, almond,
filbert, chestnut, fig, pistachio-nut, and pomegranate still
flourish there : the olive is easily acclimatised, and the vine
produces grapes equally suitable for the table or the wine
press. 2 The plateau presents a poorer and less promising
appearance not that the soil is less genial, but the rivers
become lost further inland, and the barrenness of the
country increases as they come to an end one after
another. Where artificial irrigation has been introduced,
the fertility of the country is quite as great as in the neigh
bourhood of the mountains ; 3 outside this irrigated region
no trees are to be seen, except a few on the banks of rivers
or ponds, but wheat, barley, rye, oats, and an abundance
of excellent vegetables grow readily in places where water
is present. The fauna include, besides wild beasts of the
more formidable kinds, such as lions, tigers, leopards, and
bears, many domestic animals, or animals capable of being
turned to domestic use, such as the ass, buffalo, sheep,
goat, dog, and dromedary, and the camel with two humps,
whose gait caused so much merriment among the Ninevite

observations of travellers, that the whole of Media was formerly well

wooded.

1 The apple obtained from Media was known as the Medicum malum, and
was credited with the property of being a powerful antidote to poison : it
was supposed that it would not grow anywhere outside Media.

2 In some places, as, for instance, at Kirmanshahan, the vine-stocks have
to be buried during the winter to protect them from the frost.

3 Irrigation was effected formerly, as now, by means of subterranean
canals with openings at intervals, known as kandt.

NISSAN HORSES

279

idlers when they beheld it in the triumphal processions of
their kings ; there were, moreover, several breeds of horses,
amongst which the Nissean steed was greatly prized on
account of its size, strength, and agility. 1 In short, Media
was large enough and rich enough to maintain a numerous

NISSAN HORSES HARNESSED TO A ROYAL CHAEIOT.-

population, and offered a stable foundation to a monarch
ambitious of building up a new empire. 3

In the time of the Seleucides, Media supplied nearly the whole of Asia
with these animals, and the grazing-lands of Bagistana, the modern Behistun,
are said to have supported 160,000 of them. Under the Parthian kings
Media paid a yearly tribute of 3000 horses, and the Nissean breed was still
celebrated at the beginning of the Byzantine era. Horses are mentioned
among the tribute paid by the Medic chiefs to the kings of Assyria.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the bas-relief from Persepolis
now in the British Museum.

The history of the Mecles remains shrouded in greater obscurity than
that of any other Asiatic race. We possess no original documents which
owe their existence to this nation, and the whole of our information con
cerning its history is borrowed from Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions,
and from the various legends collected by the Greeks, especially by Herodotus
and Ctesias, from Persian magnates in Asia Minor or at the court of the
Achsemenian kings, or from fragments of vanished works such as the writings
of Berosus. And yet modern archaeologists and philologists have, during

280 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

The first person to conceive the idea of establishing one
was, perhaps, a certain Fravartish, the Phraortes of the

Greeks, whom
Herodotus de
clares to have
been the son
and successor of
Deiokes. 1 He
came to the
throne about G55
B.C., at a time
when the star of
Assur - bani - pal
was still in the
ascendant, and at
first does not
seem to have
thought of trying
to shake off the incubus of Assyrian rule. He began

the last thirty years, allowed their critical faculties, and often their
imagination as well, to run riot when dealing with this very period. After
carefully examining, one after another, most of the theories put forward, I
have adopted those hypotheses which, while most nearly approximating to
the classical legends, harmonise best with the chronological framework far
too imperfect as yet furnished by the inscriptions dealing with the closing
years of Nineveh ; I do not consider them all to be equally probable, but
though they may be mere stop-gap solutions, they have at least the merit of
reproducing in many cases the ideas current among those races of antiquity
who had been in direct communication with the Medes and with the last of
their sovereigns.

1 The ancient form of the name, Fravartish or Frawarti, has been handed
down to us by a passage in the great inscription of Behistun ; it means the
man who proclaims faith in Ahura-mazda, the believer.

THE

PERSIAN REALM

PHRAORTES AND THE RISE OF THE MEDIC EMPIRE 281

very wisely by annexing such of the petty neighbouring
states as had hitherto remained independent, and then set
himself to attack the one other nation of Iranian blood
which, by virtue of the number and warlike qualities of
its clans, was in a position to enter into rivalry with his
own people. The Persians, originally concentrated in the
interior, among the steep valleys which divide the plateau
on the south, had probably taken advantage of the mis
fortunes of Elam to extend their own influence at its
expense. Their kings were chosen from among the
descendants of a certain Akhamanish, the Achsemenes of
the Greeks, who at the time of the Iranian invasion had
been chief of the Pasargadce, one of the Persian clans.
Achasrnenes is a mythical hero rather than a real person ;
he was, we are told, fed during infancy by an eagle that
mighty eagle whose shadow, according to a Persian belief
in medieval times, assured the sovereignty to him on
whom it chanced to fall. Achsemenes would seem to have
been followed by a certain Chaispi or Teispes a less
fabulous personage, described in the legends as his son.
It was, doubtless, during his reign that Assur-bani-pal,
in hot pursuit of Tiumman and Khumban-khaldash,
completed the downfall of Susa ; Chaispi claimed the
eastern half of Elam as his share of the spoil, and on
the strength of his victory styled himself King of Anshan
a title on which his descendants still prided them
selves a hundred years after his death. 1 Persia, as then

1 The fact that Teispes was the immediate successor of Achsemenes,
indicated by Herodotus, is affirmed by Darius himself in the Behistun
inscription. According to Billerbeck, the Anzan (Anshan) of the early

282 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

constituted, extended from the mouths of the Oroatis the
modern Tab as far as the entrance to the Straits of
Ormuzd. 1 The coast-line, which has in several places been
greatly modified since ancient times by the formation of
alluvial deposits, consists of banks of clay and sand, which
lie parallel with the shore, and extend a considerable
distance inland ; in some places the country is marshy,
in others parched and rocky, and almost everywhere barren
and unhealthy. The central region is intersected through
out its whole length by several chains of hills, which rise
terrace-like, one behind the other, from the sea to the
plateau ; some regions are sterile, more especially in the
north and east, but for the most part the country is well
wooded, and produces excellent crops of cereals. Only a
few rivers, such as the Oroatis, which forms the boundary
between Persia and Susiana, 2 the Araxes, and the Bagradas
succeed in breaking through the barriers that beset their
course, and reach the Persian Gulf ; 3 most of the others
find no outlet, and their waters accumulate at the bottom
of the valleys, in lakes whose areas vary at the different

Achsemenides was merely a very small part of the ancient Anzan (Anshan),
viz. the district on the east and south-east of Kuh-i-Dena, which includes the
modern towns of Yezdeshast, Abadeh, Yeldid, and Kushkiserd.

1 Herodotus imagined Carmania and Persia Proper to be one and the
same province ; from the Alexandrine period onwards historians and geo
graphers drew a distinction between the two.

2 The form of the name varies in different writers. Strabo calls it the
Oroatis, Nearchus the Arosis ; in Pliny it appears as Gratis and Zarotis, and
in Ammianus Marcellinus as Oroates.

3 The Araxes is the modern Bendamir. The Kyros, which flowed past
Persepolis, is now the Pulwar, an affluent of the Bendamir. The Bagradas
of Ptolemy, called the Hyperis by Juba, is the modern Nabend.

SCEISTE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF PERSIA.

Drawn by Boudier, from COSTE and FLANDIX, Voyage en Perse, vol. i. pi. xcvi.

THE MOUNTAINS OF PERSIA

285

seasons. The mountainous district is furrowed in all
directions by deep ravines, with almost vertical sides, at
the bottom of which streams and torrents follow a headlong
course. The landscape wears a certain air of savage
grandeur ; giant peaks rise in needle-like points per
pendicularly to the sky ; mountain paths wind upward,
cut into the sides of the
steep precipices ; the
chasms are spanned by
single-arched bridges,
so frail and narrow that
they seem likely to be
swept away in the first
gale that blows. No
country could present
greater difficulties to the
movements of a regular
army or lend itself more
readily to a system of
guerrilla warfare. It was unequally divided between some
ten or twelve tribes : 2 chief among these were the
PasargadaB, from which the royal family took its origin ;
after them came the Maraphii and Maspii. The chiefs
of these two tribes were elected from among the members
of seven families, who, at first taking equal rank with
that of the Pasargadae, had afterwards been reduced to

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the Naksh-i-Rustem bas-relief
taken by Dieulafoy.

2 Herodotus only mentions ten Persian tribes ; Xenophon speaks of
twelve.

HEAD OF A PERSIAN AKCHEK. 1

286 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

subjection by the Achaemenides, forming a privileged
class at the court of the latter, the members of which
shared the royal prerogatives and took a part in the work
of government. Of the remaining tribes, the Panthialsei,
Derusiaei, and Carmenians lived a sedentary life, while
the Dai, Mardians, Dropici, and Sagartians were nomadic
in their habits. Each one of these tribes occupied
its own allotted territory, the limits of which were not
always accurately denned ; we know that Sagartia, Paraeta-
kene, and Mardia lay towards the north, on the confines
of Media and the salt desert, 1 Taokene extended along the
seaboard, and Carmania lay to the east. The tribes had
constructed large villages, such as Armuza, Sisiddna,
Apostana, Gogana, and Taoke, on the sea-coast (the last
named possessing a palace which was one of the three
chief residences of the Achsemenian kings), 2 and Carmana,
Persepolis, Pasargadas, and Gabae in the interior. 3 The

1 Parsetaken6, which has already been identified with the Partukkanu
(or Partakkanu) of the Assyrian inscriptions, is placed by Ptolemy in
Persia ; Mardia corresponds to the mountainous district of Bebahan and
Kazrun.

2 The position of most of these towns is still somewhat doubtful.
Armuza is probably Ormuz (or Hormuz) on the mainland, the forerunner of
the insular Hormuz of the Portuguese, as the French scholar d Anville has
pointed out ; Sisidona has been identified with the modern village of Mogu,
near Ras-Jerd, Apostana with the town of Shewar, the name seeming to be
perpetuated in that of the Jebel Asban which rises not far from there.
Gogana is probably Bender Kongun, and Taoke, at the mouth of the Granis,
is either Khor Gasseir or Rohilla at the mouth of the Bishawer. The
palace, which was one of the three principal residences of the Achsemenian
kings, is probably mentioned by Strabo, and possibly in Dionysius Periegetes.

3 Carmana is the modern Kerman ; the exact position of Gabse, which
also possesses a palace, is not known.

PERSIANS PROPER AND THE PERSIANS

287

Persians were a keen-witted and observant race, inured
to all kinds of hardships in their occupation as mountain
shepherds, and they were born warriors. The type
preserved on the monuments differs but little from that
which still exists at the present day
in the more remote districts. It
was marked by a tall and slender
figure, with sturdy shoulders and
loins, a small head, with a thick
shock of hair and curling beard, a
straight nose, a determined mouth,
and an eye steady and alert. Yet,
in spite of their valour, Phraortes
overpowered them, and was hence
forward able to reckon the princes
of Anshan among his vassals ;
strengthened by the addition of
their forces to his own, he directed
his efforts to the subjection of the
other races of the plateau. If we
may believe the tradition of the
Hellenic epoch, he reduced them to
submission, and, intoxicated by his
success, ventured at last to take

up arms against the Assyrians, who for centuries past had
held rule over Upper Asia.

This was about 635 B.C., or less than ten years after the
downfall of Elam, and it does not seem likely that the vital

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of one of the bas-reliefs at
Persepolis, in Dieulafoy.

A PEE8IAN. 1

288 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

forces of Assyria can have suffered any serious diminution
within so short a space of time. 1 Assur-bani-pal, weary of
fighting, even though he no longer directed operations in
person, had apparently determined to remain entirely on
the defensive, and not to take the field, unless absolutely
compelled to do so by rebellion at home or an attack from
outside. In view of the growing need of rest for the
Assyrian nation, he could not have arrived at a wiser
decision, provided always that circumstances allowed of
its being carried into effect, and that the tributary races
and frontier nations were willing to fall in with his
intentions. They did so at first, for the fate of Elam had
filled even the most unruly among them with consterna
tion, and peace reigned supreme from the Persian Gulf to
the Mediterranean. Assur-bani-pal took advantage of this
unexpected lull to push forward the construction of public
works in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. The
palace of Sennacherib, though it had been built scarcely
fifty years before, was already beginning to totter on its
foundations ; Assur-bani-pal entirely remoddled and restored
it a proceeding which gave universal satisfaction. The
common people had, as usual, to make the bricks with their
own hands and convey them to the spot, but as the chariots
employed for this purpose formed part of the booty recently
brought back from Elarn, the privilege of using these

1 The date is indicated by the figures given by Herodotus in regard to
the Medic kings, based on the calculations of himself or his authorities.
Phraortes died in 634 B.C., after a reign of twenty-two years, and as the last
year of his reign coincides with the war against Assyria, the preparations
for it cannot have been much earlier than 635 or 636 B.C., a year or two
before the catastrophe.

THE LATEST MONUMENTS OF ASSUR-BANI-PAL 289

trophies did something to lighten the burden of the tasks
imposed on them. Moreover, they had the satisfaction of
seeing at work among the squads of labourers several real
kings, the Arabian chiefs who had been pursued and
captured in the heart of the desert by Assur-bani-pal s
generals ; they plodded along under their heavy baskets,
stimulated by the crack of the whip, amid insults and
jeers. This palace was one of the largest and most ornate
ever built by the rulers of Assyria. True, the decoration
does not reveal any novel process or theme ; we find therein
merely the usual scenes of battle or of the chase, but they
are designed and executed with a skill to which the
sculptor of Nineveh had never before attained. The
animals, in particular, are portrayed with a light and
delicate touch the wild asses pursued by hounds, or
checked while galloping at full speed by a cast of the lasso ;
the herds of goats and gazelles hurrying across the desert ;
the wounded lioness, which raises herself with a last
dying effort to roar at the beaters. We are conscious of
Egyptian influence underlying the Asiatic work, and the
skilful arrangement of the scenes from the Elamite cam
paigns also reminds us of Egypt. The picture of the
battle of Tulliz recalls, in the variety of its episodes and
the arrangement of the perspective, the famous engage
ment at Qodshu, of which Ramses II. has left such
numerous presentments on the Theban pylons. The
Assyrians, led by the vicissitudes of invasion to Luxor and
the Ramesseum, had, doubtless, seen these masterpieces
of Egyptian art in a less mutilated state than that in which
we now possess them, and profited by the remembrance
VOL. vm. u

290 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

when called upon to depict the private life of their king
and the victories gained by his armies. It was in this
magnificent residence that Assur-baiii-pal led an existence
of indolent splendour, such as the chroniclers of a later age
were wont to ascribe to all the Assyrian monarchs from the

A HERD OF WILD GOATS A BAS-RELIEF OF THE TIME OF ASSUR-BAXI-PAL. 1

time of Semiramis onwards. 2 We would gladly believe
that he varied the monotony of his hunting expeditions,
his banquets, and entertainments in the gardens in
company with the women of the harem, by pleasures of a
more refined nature, and that he took an unusual interest
in the history and literature of the races who had become

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the sketch by Place.

2 Stories of the effeminacy of Sardanapalus had been collected by Ctesias
of Cnidus ; they soon grew under the hands of historians in the time of
Alexander, and were passed on by them to writers of the Roman and
Byzantine epochs.

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THE LIBRARY OF ASSUR-BANI-PAL AT KOUYUNJIK 291

subject to his rule. As a matter of fact, there have been
discovered in several of the ruined chambers of his palaces
the remains of a regular library, which must originally have
contained thousands of clay tablets, all methodically
arranged and catalogued for his use. A portion of them
furnish us at first-hand with the records of his reign, and
include letters exchanged with provincial governors,
augural predictions, consultation of oracles, observations
made by the royal astrologers, standing orders, accounts
of income and expenditure, even the reports of physicians
in regard to the health of members of the royal family or
of the royal household : these documents reveal to us the
whole machinery of government in actual operation, and
we almost seem to witness the secret mechanism by which
the kingdom was maintained in activity. Other tablets
contain authentic copies of works which were looked upon
as classics in the sanctuaries of the Euphrates. Probably,
when Babylon was sacked, Sennacherib had ordered the
books which lay piled up in E-Sagilla and the other
buildings of the city to be collected and carried away to
Nineveh along with the statues and property of the gods.
They had been placed in the treasury, and there they
remained until Esarhaddon re-established the kingdom of
Karduniash, and Assur-bani-pal was forced to deliver up
the statue of Marduk and restore to the sanctuaries, now
rebuilt, all the wealth of which his grandfather had robbed
them : but before sending back the tablets, he ordered
copies to be made of them, and his secretaries set to work
to transcribe for his use such of these works as they con
sidered worthy of reproduction. The majority of them

292 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

were treatises compiled by the most celebrated adepts in

the sciences for which Chaldsea had been famous from time

immemorial ; they included collections of omens, celestial

and terrestrial, in which the mystical meaning of each

phenomenon and its influence on the destinies of the world

was explained by examples borrowed from the Annals of

world-renowned conquerors, such as Naramsin and S argon

of Agade ; then there were formulae for exorcising evil

spirits from the bodies of the possessed, and against

phantoms, vampires, and ghosts, the recognised causes of

all disease ; prayers and psalms, which had to be repeated

before the gods in order to obtain pardon for sin; and

histories of divinities and kings from the time of the

creation down to the latest date. Among these latter

were several versions of the epic of Gilgames, the story of

Etana, of Adapa, and many others ; and we may hope to

possess all that the Assyrians knew of the old Chaldaean

literature in the seventh century B.C., as soon as the

excavators have unearthed from the mound at Kouyunjik

all the tablets, complete or fragmentary, which still lie

hidden there. Even from the shreds of information

which they have already yielded to us, we are able to

piece together so varied a picture that we can readily

imagine Assur-bani-pal to have been a learned and studious

monarch, a patron of literature and antiquarian knowledge.

Very possibly he either read himself, or had read to him,

many of the authors whose works found a place in his

library: the kings of Nineveh, like the Pharaohs, desired

now and then to be amused by tales of the marvellous, and

they were doubtless keenly alive to the delightful rhythm

THE LIBRARY OF ASSUR-BANI-PAL AT KOUYUNJIK 293

and beautiful language employed by the poets of the past
in singing the praises of their divine or heroic ancestors.
But the mere fact that his palace contained the most
important literary collection which the ancient East has so
far bequeathed to us, in no way proves that Assur-bani-pal
displayed a more pronounced taste for literature than his
predecessors ; it indicates merely the zeal and activity of
his librarians, their intelligence, and their respect and
admiration for the great works of the past. Once he had
issued his edict ordering new editions of the old masters to
be prepared, Assur-bani-pal may have dismissed the matter
from his mind, and the work would go on automatically
without need for any further interference on his part. The
scribes enriched his library for him, in much the same way
as the generals won his battles, or the architects built his
monuments : they were nothing more than nameless
agents, whose individuality was eclipsed by that of their
master, their skill and talent being all placed to his credit.
Babylonia shared equally with Assyria in the benefits of his
government. He associated himself with his brother
Shamash-shumukin in the task of completing the temple of

^

E-Sagilla ; afterwards, when sole monarch, he continued
the work of restoration, not only in Babylon, but in the
lesser cities as well, especially those which had suffered
most during the war, such as Urn, Uruk, Borsippa, and
Cutha. 1 He remodelled the temple of Bel at Nippur, the
walls built there by him being even now distinguishable

1 He refers to the works at Borsippa and Kuta towards the end of the
account of his campaign against Shamash-shumukin, and to those at Uruk
in describing the war against Khumban-khaldash.

294 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

from the rest by the size of the bricks and the careful
dressing of the masonry. From the shores of the Persian
Gulf to the mountains of Armenia, Assyria and Karduniash

REMAINS OF ASSUR-BANI-PAI/S WALL AT NIPPUR. 1

were covered with building-yards just as they had been in
the most peaceful days of the monarchy.

It was at this unique juncture of apparent grandeur and
prosperity that Phraortes resolved to attack Assur-bani-pal.
There is nothing to indicate that his action took place
simultaneously with some movement on the part of other
peoples, or with a serious insurrection in any of the

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph published by Peters.

DEFEAT AMD DEATH OF PHRAORTES 295

Assyrian provinces. For my part, I prefer to set it down
to one of those sudden impulses, those irresistible outbursts
of self-confidence, which from time to time actuated the
princes tributary to Nineveh or the kings on its frontier.
The period of inactivity to which some previous defeat
inflicted on them or on their predecessors had condemned
them, allowed them to regain their strength, and one or
two victories over less powerful neighbours served to
obliterate the memory of former humiliation and disaster ;
they flew to arms full of hope in the result, and once more
drew down defeat upon their heads, being lucky indeed if
their abortive rising led to nothing worse than the slaughter
of their armies, the execution of their generals, and an
increase in the amount of their former tribute. This was
the fate that overtook Phraortes ; the conqueror of the
Persians, when confronted by the veteran troops of Assyria,
failed before their superior discipline, and was left dead
upon the field of battle with the greater part of his army.
So far the affair presented no unusual features ; it was
merely one more commonplace repetition of a score of
similar episodes which had already taken place in the same
region, under Tiglath-pileser III. or the early Sargonides ;
but Huvakshatara, the son of Phraortes, known to the
Greeks as Cyaxares, 1 instead of pleading for mercy, continued
to offer a stubborn resistance. Cyaxares belongs to history,
and there can be no doubt that he exercised a decisive

1 The original form of the name is furnished by passages in the Behistun
inscription, where Chitrantakhma of Sagartia and Fravartish of Media, two
of the claimants for the throne who rose against Darius, are represented as

tracing their descent from Huvakshatara.

296 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

influence over the destinies of the Oriental world, but
precise details of his exploits are wanting, and his
personality is involved in such obscuring mists that we can
scarcely seize it ; the little we have so far been able to
glean concerning him shows us, not so much the man
himself, as a vague shadow of him seen dimly through the
haze. His achievements prove him to have been one of
those perfect rulers of men, such as Asia produces every
now and then, who knew how to govern as well as how to
win battles a born general and lawgiver, who could carry
his people with him, and shone no less in peace than in
war. 1 The armies at the disposal of his predecessors had
been little more than heterogeneous assemblies of feudal
militia ; each clan furnished its own contingent of cavalry,
archers, and pikemen, but instead of all these being
combined into a common whole, with kindred elements
contributed by the other tribes, each one acted separately,
thus forming a number of small independent armies within
the larger one. Cyaxares saw that defeat was certain so
long as he had nothing but these ill-assorted masses to
match against the regular forces of Assyria : he therefore
broke up the tribal contingents and rearranged the units of
which they were composed according to their natural

1 G. Rawlinson takes a somewhat different view of Cyaxares character ;
he admits that Cyaxares knew how to win victories, but refuses to credit
him with the capacity for organisation required in order to reap the full
benefits of conquest, giving as his reason for this view the brief duration of
the Medic empire. The test applied by him does not seem to me a con
clusive one, for the existence of the second Chaldsean empire was almost as
short, and yet it would be decidedly unfair to draw similar inferences
touching the character of Nabopolassar or Nebuchadrezzar from this
fact.

CYAXARES REARRANGES HIS ARMY

297

affinities, grouping horsemen with horsemen, archers with
archers, and pikemen with pikemen, taking the Assyrian

MEDIC AND PERSIAN FOOT-SOLDIERS. 1

cavalry and infantry as his models. 2 The foot-soldiers wore
a high felt cap known as a tiara ; they had long tunics

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after Coste and Flandin. The first and
third figures are Medes, the second and fourth Persians.

2 Herodotus tells us that Cyaxares was " the first to divide the Asiatics
into different regiments, separating the pikemen from the archers and
horsemen ; before his time, these troops were all mixed up haphazard
together." I have interpreted his evidence in the sense which seems most
in harmony with what we know of Assyrian military tactics. It seems
incredible that the Medic armies can have fought pell-mell, as Herodotus
declares, seeing that for two hundred years past the Medes had been
frequently engaged against such well-drilled troops as those of Assyria : if
the statement be authentic, it merely means that Cyaxares converted all the
small feudal armies which had hitherto fought side by side on behalf of the
king into a single royal army in which the different kinds of troops were
kept separate.

298 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

with, wide sleeves, tied in at the waist by a belt, and
sometimes reinforced by iron plates or scales, as well as
gaiters, buskins of soft leather, and large wickerwork shields
covered with ox-hide, which they bore in front of them
like a movable bulwark ; their weapons consisted of
a short sword, which depended from the belt and lay
along the thigh, one or two light javelins, a bow with a

strongly pro-

m : M n 7 oed . CU1 7?:

and a quiver full
of arrows made
from reeds. 1
Their horsemen,
like those of other
warlike nations
of the East, used
neither saddle
nor stirrups, and

though they could make skilful use of lance and sword,
their favourite weapon was the bow. 3 Accustomed from
their earliest childhood to all kinds of equestrian exercises,
they seemed to sit their horses as though they actually
formed part of the animal. They seldom fought in line,

1 Herodotus describes the equipment of the Persians in much the same
terms as I have used above, and then adds in the following chapter that
"the Medes had the same equipment, for it is the equipment of the Medes
and not that of the Persians."

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a cast of the Medic intaglio in the
Cabinet des Medailles.

3 Herodotus says that the Medic horsemen were armed in the same
manner as the infantry.

A MEDIC HORSEMAN. 2

CYAXARES FIRST ATTACK UPON NINEVEH 299

bat, from the very beginning of an action, hung like a dense
cloud on the front and flanks of the enemy, and riddled
them with missiles, without, however, coming to close
quarters. Like the Parthians of a later epoch, they waited
until they had bewildered and reduced the foe by their
ceaseless evolutions before giving the final charge which was
to rout them completely. No greater danger could
threaten the Assyrians than the establishment of a
systematically organised military power within the borders
of Media. An invader starting from Egypt or Asia Minor,
even if he succeded in overthrowing the forces sent out to
meet him, had still a long way to go before he could
penetrate to the heart of the empire. Even if Cilicia and
Syria should be conquered, nothing was easier than to
oppose a further advance at the barrier of the Euphrates ;
and should the Euphrates be crossed, the Khabur still
remained, and behind it the desert of Singar, which offered
the last obstacle between Nineveh and the invaders. The
distances were less considerable in the case of an army
setting out from Urartu and proceeding along the basin of
the Tigris or its affluents ; but here, too, the difficulties of
transit were so serious that the invadar ran a great risk of
gradually losing the best part of his forces on the road.
On the north-east and east, however, the ancient heritage
of Assur lay open to direct and swift attack. An enemy
who succeeded in destroying or driving back the garrisons
stationed as outposts on the rim of the plateau, from
Kharkhar to Parsua, if he ventured to pursue his advantage
and descended into the plain of the Tigris, had no less than
three routes to choose from the Kirind road on the south,

300 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

the Baneh road on the north, and the Suleimanyeh road
between the two. The last was the easiest of all, and led
almost straight to the fords of Altun-Keupri and the banks
of the Lesser Zab, on the confines of Assyria proper, close
under the walls of Arbela, the holy city of Ishtar. He

needed but to
win two vic
tories, one upon
leaving the
mountains, the
other at the pas
sage of the Zab,
and two or three
weeks steady
marching would
bring him from
Hamadan right
up to the ram
parts of Nineveh.
Cyaxares won
a victory over
Assur-bani-pal s
generals, and for the first time in over a hundred years
Assyria proper suffered the ignominy of foreign invasion.
The various works constructed by twenty generations of
kings had gradually transformed the triangle enclosed
between the Upper Zab, the Tigris, and the Jebel-Makhlub
into a regular fortified camp. The southern point of
this triangle was defended by Calah from the attacks of
Chalda3a or from foes coming down from Media by Holwan

THE
ASSYRIAN
TRIANGLE.

Sites of
- ancient rTahj.

THE ASSYRIAN TRIANGLE

301

and Suleimanyeh, while Nineveh guarded it on the north
east, and several lines of walled cities among which
Dur-Sharrukm and Imgur-Bel can still be identified-
protected it on the north and east, extending from the
Tigris as far as the Ghazir and Zab. It was necessary
for an enemy to
break through
this complex de
fensive zone, and
even after this
had been suc
cessfully accom
plished and the
walls of the
capital had been
reached, the
sight which
would meet the
eye was well
calculated to
dismay even the
most resolute invader. Viewed as a whole, Nineveh
appeared as an irregular quadrilateral figure, no two sides
of which were parallel, lying on the left bank of the
Tigris. The river came right up to the walls on the
west, and the two mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebi-Yunus,
on which stood the palaces of the Sargonides, were
so skilfully fortified that a single wall connecting the
two sufficed to ward off all danger of attack on this side.
The south wall, which was the shortest of the four,

302 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

being only about 870 yards in length, was rendered inac
cessible by a muddy stream, while the north wall, some
2150 yards long, was protected by a wide moat which
could be filled from the waters of the Khuzur. The
eastern front had for a long time depended for its safety
on a single wall reinforced by a moat, but Sennacherib,

PART OF THE FOSSE AT MXEVEH. 1

deeming it insufficiently protected against a sudden attack,
had piled up obstacles in front of it, so that it now
presented a truly formidable appearance. It was skirted
throughout its whole length by a main rampart, 5400
yards long, which described a gentle curve from north
to south, and rose to a height of about 50 feet, being
protected by two small forts placed close to the main
gates. The fosse did not run along the foot of the wall,
but at a distance of about fifty yards in front of it, and

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a sketch in Layard.

THE DEFENCE OF NIXEVEH 303

was at least some 20 feet deep and over 150 feet in width.
It was divided into two unequal segments by the Khuzur :
three large sluice-gates built on a level with the wall and
the two escarpments allowed the river to be dammed back,
so that its waters could be diverted into the fosse and thus
keep it full in case of siege. In front of each segment
was a kind of demi-lune, and as though this was not
precaution enough two walls, each over 4300 yards long,
were built in front of the demi-lunes, the ditch which
separated them being connected at one end with the
Khuzur, and allowed to empty itself into a stream on
the south. The number of inhabitants sheltered behind
these defences was perhaps 300,000 souls ; 1 each separate
quarter of the city was enclosed by ramparts, thus forming,
as it were, a small independent town, which had to be
besieged and captured after a passage had been cut through
the outer lines of defence. Cyaxares might well have
lost heart in the face of so many difficulties, but his
cupidity, inflamed by reports of the almost fabulous wealth
of the city, impelled him to attack it with extraordinary
determination : the spoils of Susa, Babylon, and Thebes,
in fact, of the whole of Western Asia and Ethiopia, were,
he felt, almost within his reach, and would inevitably
fall into his hands provided his courage and perseverance
did not fail him. After shutting up the remnant of the
Assyrian army inside Nineveh he laid patient siege to
the city, and the fame of his victories being noised abroad
on all sides, it awoke among the subject races that longing

1 Jones and G. Rawlinson credit Nineveh with a population of not more
than 175,000.

304 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

for revenge which at one time appeared to have been
sent to sleep for ever. It almost seemed as though the
moment was approaching when the city of blood should
bleed in its turn, when its kings should at length undergo
the fate which they had so long imposed on other
monarchs. Nahum the Elkoshite, 1 a Hebrew born in the
Assyrian province of Samaria, but at that time an exile
in Judah, lifted up his voice, and the echo of his words
still resounds in our ears, telling us of the joy and hope
felt by Judah, and with Judah, by the whole of Asia, at
the prospect. Speaking as the prophet of Jahveh, it was
to Jahveh that he attributed the impending downfall of
the oppressor: "Jahveh is a jealous God and avengeth;
Jahveh avengeth and is full of wrath ; Jahveh taketh
vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath
for His enemies. Jahveh is slow to anger and great in
power, and will by no means clear the guilty ; Jahveh
hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and
the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the
sea and maketn it dry, and drieth up all the rivers :
Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon
languisheth." 2 And, "Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings." 3 Then he goes
on to unfold before the eyes of his hearers a picture of

1 Elkosh is identified by Eusebius with Elkese, which St. Jerome declares
to have been in Galilee, the modern el-Kauzeh, two and a half hours walk
south of Tibniii. The prophecy of Nahum has been taken by some as refer
ring to the campaign of Phraortes against Assyria, but more frequently to
the destruction of Nineveh by the Medes and Chaldseans. It undoubtedly
refers to the siege interrupted by the Scythian invasion.

2 Nahum i. 2-4. 3 Nahum i. 15.

THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM 305

Nineveh, humiliated and in the last extremity. There
she lies, behind her bastions of brick, anxiously listening
for the approach of the victorious Medes. " The noise
of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels ; and
prancing horses and jumping chariots ; the horsemen
mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering
spear; and a multitude of slain and a great heap of
carcases : and there is no end of the corpses ; they stumble
upon their corpses : because of the multitude of the
whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of
witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms,
and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am
against thee, saith Jahveh of hosts, and I will discover
thy skirts upon they face ; and I will show the nations
thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will
cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and
will set thee as a gazing-stock. And it shall come to
pass that all they that look upon thee shall flee from
thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste : who will bemoan
her? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?" 1
Thebes, the city of Amon, did not escape captivity ; why
then should Nineveh prove more fortunate? "All thy
fortresses shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs:
if they be shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women ; the
gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies :
the fire hath devoured thy bars. Draw thee water for the
siege, strengthen thy fortresses: go into the clay and
tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln. There shall

1 Nahum iii. 2-7.
VOL. VIII. X

300 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

the fire devour thee ; the sword shall cut thee off, . . .
make thyself many as the canker worm, make thyself
many as the locusts. Thou hast multiplied thy merchants
as the stars of heaven : the cankerworrn spoileth and
flieth away. Thy crowned are as the locusts and thy
marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers., which camp in
the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth
they flee away, and their place is not known where they
are. Thy shepherds slumber, King of Assyria : thy
worthies are at rest : thy people are scattered upon the
mountains, and there is none to gather them. There is
no assuaging of thy hurt ; thy wound is grievous : all that
hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee ; for upon
whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually ?

On this occasion Nineveh escaped the fate with which
the prophet had threatened it, but its safety was dearly
bought. According to the tradition accepted in Asia
Minor two hundred years later, a horde of Scythians under
King Madyes, son of Protothyes, setting out from the
Eussian steppes in pursuit of the Cimmerians, made their
appearance on the scene in the nick of time. We are
told that they flung themselves through the Caspian
Gates into the basin of the Kur, and came into contact
with the Medes at the foot of Mount Caucasus. The
defeat of the Medes here would necessarily compel them
to raise the siege of Nineveh. This crisis in the history
of Asia was certainly not determined by chance. For
eighty years Assyria had been in contact with the
Scythians, and the Assyrian kings had never ceased to

1 Nalmm iii. 12-19.

THE SCYTHIAN INVASION 307

keep an eye upon their movements, or lose sight of the
advantage to which their bellicose temper might be turned
in circumstances like the present. They had pitted them
against the Cimmerians, then against the Medes, and
probably against the kings of Urartu as well, and the
intimacy between the two peoples came to be so close
that the Scythian king Bartatua did not hesitate to
demand one of the daughters of Esarhaddon in marriage.
From the very beginning of his reign Assur-bani-pal had
shown them the utmost consideration, and when King
Madyes, son of his ally Bartatua, intervened thus oppor
tunely in the struggle, he did so, not by mere chance,
as tradition would have us believe, but at the urgent
request of Assyria. He attacked Media in the rear, and
Cyaxares, compelled to raise the siege of Nineveh,
hastened to join battle with him. The engagement
probably took place on the banks of the Lower Araxes
or to the north of Lake Urumiah, in the region formerly
inhabited by the Mannai ; but after defeating his foe
and dictating to him the terms of submission, Madyes,
carried away by the lust of conquest, did not hesitate
to turn his arms against his ally. Exhausted by her
recent struggle, Assyria lay at his mercy, her fortresses
alone being able to offer any serious resistance : he
overran the country from end to end, and though the
walled cities withstood the fury of his attack, the rural
districts were plundered right and left, and laid desolate
for many a year to come. The Scythians of this epoch
probably resembled those whom we find represented on
the monuments of Greek art two centuries later. Tall,

308 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

SCYTHIANS TEXDIXG THEIR WOUNDED. 1

fierce-looking men, with unkempt beards, their long and
straggling locks surmounted by the kyrbasia^ or pointed
national cap of felt ; they wore breeches and a blouse
of embroidered leather, and were armed with lances,
bows, and battle-axes. They rode bareback on untrained
horses, herds of which followed their tribes about on their
wanderings ; each man caught the animal he required

with the help of
a lasso, put bit
and bridle on
him, and vault
ing on to his
back at a single
bound, reduced
him to a state of semi-obedience. No troops could stand
their ground before the frantic charge of these wild
horsemen ; like the Huns of Eoman times, the Scythians
made a clean sweep of everything they found in their
path. They ruined the crops, carried off or slaughtered
the herds, and set fire to the villages from sheer love
of destruction, or in order to inspire terror ; every one
who failed to fly to the mountains or take refuge in
some fortress, was either massacred on the spot or led
away into slavery. Too ignorant of the arts of war to
undertake a siege in the regular way, they usually
contented themselves with levying ransoms on fortified
towns ; occasionally, however, when the wealth ac
cumulated behind the walls held out a prospect of ample

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the reliefs on a silver vase from Kul-
Oba.

A THEME FOR THE HEBREW PROPHETS 309

booty, they blockaded the place until famine compelled
it to surrender. More than one ancient city which,
thanks to the good government of its rulers and the
industry of its citizens, had amassed treasure of inesti
mable value, was put to fire and sword, and more than
one fertile and populous region left untilled and deserted. 1
Most of the states which for the last three centuries had
fought so stubbornly against the Assyrians for indepen
dence, went down before the storm, including the king
doms of Urartu, of the Mushku, and of the Tabal," their
miserable end furnishing the Hebrew prophets full fifty
years later with a theme of sombre rejoicing. " There
is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude ; her graves
are round about her : all of them uncircumcised, slain
by the sword ; for they caused their terror in the land
of the living. And they shall not lie with the mighty
that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone
down to hell with their weapons of war, and have laid
their swords under their heads, 3 and their iniquities are
upon their bones ; for they were the terror of the

1 This may be deduced from the passage in Herodotus, where he says
that " the Scythians were masters of Asia for twenty-eight years, and over
turned everything by their brutality and stupidity : for, in addition to
tribute, they exacted from every one whatever they chose, and, moreover,
they prowled here and there, plundering as they thought good."

2 Strabo refers in general terms to the presence of Scythians (or, as he
calls them, Sacse) in Armenia, Cappadocia, and on the shores of the Black
Sea.

3 This, doubtless, means that the Mushku and Tabal had been so utterly
defeated that they could not procure honourable burial for their dead, i.e.
with their swords beneath their heads and their weapons on their
bodies.

310 THEJNIEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

mighty iu the land of the living." l The Cimmerians,
who, since their reverses in Lydia and on Mount Taurus,
had concentrated practically the whole of their tribes in
Cappadocia and in the regions watered by the Halys and
Thermodon, shared the good fortune of their former
adversaries. At that time they lived under the rule
of a certain Kobos, who seems to have left a terrible
reputation behind him ; tradition gives him a place
beside Sesostris among the conquerors of the heroic age,
and no doubt, like his predecessor Dugdamis, he owed
this distinction to some expedition or other against the
peoples who dwelt on the shores of the ^Egean Sea,
but our knowledge of his career is confined to the final
catastrophe which overtook him. After some partial
successes, such as that near Zela, for instance, he was
defeated and made prisoner by Madyes. His subjects,
as vassals of the Scythians, joined them in their acts
of brigandage, 2 and together they marched from province
to province, plundering as they went ; they overran the
western regions of the Assyrian kingdom from Melitene and
Mesopotamia to Northern Syria, from Northern Syria to
Phoenicia, Damascus, and Palestine, 3 and at length made
their appearance on the Judaean frontier. Since the day
when Sennacherib had been compelled to return to Assyria
without having succeeded in destroying Jerusalem, or

1 Ezek. xxxii. 26, 27.

2 It seems probable that this was so, when we consider the confusion
between the Scythians or Sakse, and the Cimmerians in the Babylonian and
Persian inscriptions of the Acheemenian epoch.

3 Their migration from Media into Syria and Palestine is expressly
mentioned by Herodotus,

JUDAH UNDER MANASSEH AND AMON

311

even carrying it by storm, Judah had taken little or no
part in external politics. Divided at first by a conflict
between the party of prudence, who advised submission
to Nineveh, and the more warlike spirits who advocated
an alliance with Egypt, it had ended by accepting its
secondary position, and had on the whole remained fairly
loyal to the dynasty of Sargon. On the death of Hezekiah,
his successor,
Manasseh, had,
as we know, been
tempted to inter
vene in the revo
lutions of the
hour, but the
prompt punish
ment which fol
lowed his first
attempt put an

end for ever to his desire for independence. His successor,
Amon, during his brief reign of two years, 2 had no time
to desert the ways of his father, and Josiah, 3 who came
to the throne in 638 B.C., at the age of eight, had so far

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the cast of a cylinder given by Cun
ningham. The cylinder is usually described as Persian, but the dress is
that of the Medes as well as of the Persians.

2 2 Kings xxi. 18-26 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 20-25. The reign of fifty-
five years attributed to Manasseh by the Jewish annalists cannot be fitted
into the chronology of the period ; we must either take off ten years, thus
reducing the duration of the reign to forty-five years, or else we must
assume the first ten of Manasseh to be synchronous with the last ten of
Hezekiah.

3 2 Kings xxii. 1 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 1.

1KA.XI.VX SOLDIERS FIGHTING AGAINST THE SCYTHIANS. 1

312 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

manifested no hostility towards Assyria. Thus, for more
than fifty years, Judah enjoyed almost unbroken peace,
and led as happy and prosperous an existence as the
barrenness of its soil and the unruly spirit of its inhabitants
would permit.

But though its political activity had been almost nothing
during this interval, its spiritual life had seldom been
developed with a greater intensity. The reverse sustained
by Sennacherib had undoubtedly been a triumph for Isaiah,
and for the religious party of which we are accustomed to
regard him as the sole representative. It had served to
demonstrate the power of Jahveh, and His aversion for all
idolatrous worship and for all foreign alliances. In vain
did the partisans of Egypt talk loudly of Pharaoh and of
all those principalities of this world which were drawn
round in Pharaoh s orbit; Egypt had shown herself in
capable of safeguarding her friends, and things had gone
steadily from bad to worse so long as these latter held the
reins of government ; their removal from office had been,
as it were, the signal for a welcome change in the fortunes
of the Jews. Jahveh had delivered His city the moment
when, ceasing to rely upon itself, it had surrendered its
guidance into His hands, and the means of avoiding disaster
in the future was clearly pointed out to it. Judah must
be content to follow the counsels which Isaiah had urged
upon it in the name of the Most Higb, and submissively
obey the voice of its prophets. " Thine eyes shall see thy
teachers : and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee,
saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to
the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. And ye shall

INFLUENCE OF ISAIAH S TEACHING 313

defile the over-laying of thy graven images of silver, and
the plating of thy molten images of gold : thou shalt cast
them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it,
Get thee hence." 1 Isaiah seems to disappear after his
triumph, and none of his later prophecies have come down
to us : yet the influence of his teaching lasted throughout
the reign of Hezekiah, and the court, supported by the
more religious section of the people, not only abjured the
worship of false gods, but forsook the high places and
discontinued the practices which he had so strenuously
denounced. The great bulk of the nation, however, soon
returned to their idolatrous practices, if, indeed, they had
ever given them up, and many of the royal advisers grew
weary of the rigid observances which it was sought to
impose upon them ; rites abhorrent to Jahveh found favour
even among members of the king s own family, and on
Hezekiah s death, about 686 B.C., a reaction promptly set
in against both his religious views and the material reforms
he had introduced. 2 Manasseh was only thirteen years old
when he came to the throne, and his youth naturally
inclined him towards the less austere forms of divine
worship : from the very first he tolerated much that his
father had forbidden, and the spirit of eclecticism which
prevailed among his associates rendered him, later on, an
object of special detestation to the orthodox historians of
Jerusalem. Worshippers again began openly to frequent

1 Isa. xxx. 20-22.

2 2 Kings xxi. 2-7 (cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 2-7), where, in spite of manifest
recensions of the text, the facts themselves seem to have been correctly set
forth.

314 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

the high places ; they set up again the prostrate idols,
replanted the sacred groves, and even "built altars for
all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of
Jahveh." The chariots and horses of the sun reappeared
within the precincts of the temple, together with the
sacred courtesans. Baal and the Phoenician Astarte were
worshipped on Mount Sion. The valley of Hinnom, where
Ahaz had already burnt one of his children during a
desperate crisis in the Syrian wars, was again lighted up
by the flames of the sacred pyre. We are told that
Manasseh himself set the example by passing his son
through the flames ; he also had recourse to astrologers,
soothsayers, fortune-tellers, and sorcerers of the lowest
type. The example of Assyria in matters of this kind
exercised a preponderant influence on Jewish customs, and
certainly it would have been a miracle if Jerusalem had
succeeded in escaping it; did not Nineveh owe the lofty
place it occupied to these occult sciences and to the
mysterious powers of its gods ? In thus imitating its
conqueror, Judah was merely borrowing the weapons which
had helped him to subdue the world. The partisans of the
ancient religions who were responsible for these innovations
must have regarded them as perfectly legitimate reforms,
and their action was received with favour in the provinces :
before long the latter contained as many sanctuaries as
there were towns, 2 and by thus multiplying the centres of

1 Jer. ii. 26-30. For the quotation sec also Jcr. xi. 13 : "For according
to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah ; and according to the
number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to the shameful
thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal."

THE FATE OP ISAIAH 315

worship, they hoped that, in accordance with ancient belief,
the ties which existed between Jahveh and His chosen
people would also be increased. The fact that the
provinces had been ravaged from end to end in the days
of Sennacherib, while Jerusalem had been spared, was
attributed to the circumstance that Hezekiah had destroyed
the provincial sanctuaries, leaving the temple on Mount
Sion alone standing. Wherever Jahveh possessed altars,
He kept guard over His people, but His protection was
not extended to those places where sacrifices were no
longer offered to Him. The reaction was not allowed to
take place without opposition on the part of the prophets
and their followers. We are told that Manasseh " shed
innocent blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from
one end to another ; " there is even a Kabbinic tradition to
the effect that, weary of the admonitions of the aged Isaiah,
he put him to death by shutting him up in the hollow
trunk of a tree, and causing him to be sawn in two. 1 For
a long time after this no instance can be found of a prophet
administering public affairs or directing the actions of the
king himself ; the priests and reformers, finding no outlet
for their energy in this direction, fell back on private
preaching and literary propaganda. And, above all, they
applied themselves to the task of rewriting the history of
Israel, which, as told by the chroniclers of the previous
century, presented the national Deity in too material a
light, and one which failed to harmonise with the ideals

1 2 Kings xxi. 1G. The tradition in regard to the fate of Isaiah took
its foundation in this text, and it is perhaps indirectly referred to in Heb.
xi. 37.

316 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

then obtaining. So long as there were two separate
Hebrew T kingdoms, the existence of the two parallel versions
of the Elohist and Jahvist gave rise to but little difficulty :
each version had its own supporters and readers, whose
consciences were readity satisfied by the interpolation of a
few new facts into the text as occasion arose. But now
that Samaria had fallen, and the whole political and
religious life of the Hebrew race was centred in Judah
alone, the necessity for a double and often contradictory
narrative had ceased to exist, and the idea occurred of
combining the two in a single work. This task, which
was begun in the reign of Hezekiah and continued under
Manasseh, resulted in the production of a literature of
which fragments have been incorporated into the historical
books of our Bible. 1

The reign of Amon witnessed no alteration in the
policy initiated by his predecessor Manasseh ; but when,
after less than two years rule, he was suddenly struck
down by the knife of an assassin, the party of reform
carried the day, and the views of Hezekiah and Isaiah
regained their ascendency. Josiah had been king, in name
at any rate, for twelve years, 2 and was learning to act on

1 The scheme of the present work prevents me from doing more than
allude in passing to these preliminary stages in the composition of the Priestly
Code. I shall have occasion to return briefly to the subject at the close of
Volume IX.

2 The date is supplied by the opening passage of the prophecy of
Jeremiah, " to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah, the
son of Amon, King of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign " (i. 2).
Volney recognised that chaps, i., iv., v., and vi. of Jeremiah refer to the
Scythian invasion, and since his time it has been admitted that, with the
exception of certain interpolations in chaps, i. and iii., the whole of the first

SIGNS OF THE DIVINE WRATH 317

his own responsibility, when the Scythian danger appeared
on the horizon. This barbarian invasion, which burst upon
the peace of Assyria like a thunderbolt from a cloudless
sky, restored to the faithful that confidence in the
omnipotence of their God which had seemed about to fail
them ; when they beheld the downfall of states, the sack
of provinces innumerable, whole provinces in flames and
whole peoples irresistibly swept away to death or slavery,
they began to ask themselves whether these were not signs
of the divine wrath, indicating that the day of Jahveh was
at hand. Prophets arose to announce the approaching
judgment, among the rest a certain Zephaniah, a great-
grandson of Hezekiah : J "I will utterly consume all things
from off the face of the ground, saith Jahveh. I will
consume man and beast ; I will consume the fowls of the
heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks
with the wicked ; and I will cut off man from the face of
the earth, saith Jahveh. And I will stretch out My hand
upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem ;
and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
and the name of the Chemarim with the priests ; and them
that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops ;

six chapters date from this period, but that they underwent slight modifica
tions in the recension which was made in the fourth year of Jehoiachin in
order to make them applicable to the threatened Chaldsean invasion. The
date is important, since by using it as a basis we can approximately restore
the chronology of the whole period. If we assume the thirteenth year of
Josiah to have been 627-626 B.C., we are compelled to place all the early
Medic wars in the reign of Assur-bani-pal, as I have done.

1 Zephaniah gives his own genealogy at the beginning of his prophecy
(i. 1), though, it is true, he does not add the title " King of Judah " after
the name of his ancestor Hezekiah.

318 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

and them that worship, which swear to Jahveh and swear
by Malcham ; and them that are turned back from following
Jahveh ; and those that have not sought Jahveh nor
inquired after Him. Hold thy peace at the presence of
the Lord Jahveh ; for the day of Jahveh is at hand ; for
Jahveh hath prepared a sacrifice, He hath sanctified His
guests." " That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble
and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick dark
ness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fenced
cities, and against the high battlements. And I will bring
distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against Jahveh : and their blood
shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver
them in the day of Jahveh s wrath ; but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy ; for He shall
make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell
in the land." 2 During this same period of stress and
terror, there came forward another prophet, one of the
greatest among the prophets of Israel Jeremiah, son of
Hilkiah. He was born in the village of Anathoth, near
Jerusalem, being descended from one of those priestly
families in which the faith had been handed down from
generation to generation in all its original purity. 3 When

1 Zepli. i. 2-7. 2 Zepli. i. 15-18.

3 The descent and birthplace of Jeremiah are given at the beginning
of his prophecies (i. 1). He must have been quite young in the
thirteenth year of Josiah, as is evident from the statement in i. G. We
are told in chap, xxxvi. that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim he dictated a
summary of all the prophecies delivered by him from the thirteenth year of

THE CIMMERIANS IN SYRIA 319

Jahveh called him, he cried out in amazement, "Ah, Lord
God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." But
Jahveh reassured him, and touching his lips, said nnto him,
" Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth : see, I have
this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to
overthrow, to build and to plant." Then the prophet
perceived a seething cauldron, the face of which appeared
from the north, for the Eternal declared to him that
" Out of the north evil shall break out upon all the
inhabitants of the land." * Already the enemy is hastening:
"Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall
be as the whirlwind : his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled. Jerusalem, wash
thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee ?
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from
the hills of Ephraim : make ye mention to the nations ;
behold, publish against Jerusalem ! The Scythians had
hardly been mentioned before they were already beneath
the walls, and the prophet almost swoons with horror at
the sound of their approach. " My bowels, my bowels !
I am pained at my very heart : my heart is disquieted
in me ; I cannot hold my peace ; because thou hast heard,
my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is cried ; for the whole land
is spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall

Josiah up to the date indicated to his servant Baruch, and that later on he
added a number of others of the same kind.
1 Jer. i. 4-14.

320 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet ? ;
It would seem that the torrent of invasion turned aside
from the mountains of Judah ; it flowed over Galilee,
Samaria, and the Philistine Shephelah, its last eddies
dying away on the frontiers of Egypt. Psammetichus is
said to have bribed the barbarians to retire. As they fell
back they plundered the temple of Derketo, near Ashkelon :
we are told that in order to punish them for this act of
sacrilege, the goddess visited them with a disease which
caused serious ravages amongst them, and which the
survivors carried back with them to their own country. 2
There was, however, no need to introduce a supernatural
agency in order to account for their rapid disappearance.
The main body of invaders had never quitted Media or the
northern part of the Assyrian empire, and only the southern
regions of Syria were in all probability exposed to the
attacks of isolated bands. These stragglers, who year after
year embarked in one desperate adventure after another,
must have found great difficulty in filling up the gaps
which even victories made in their ranks ; enervated by
the relaxing nature of the climate, they could offer little
resistance to disease, and excess completed what the
climate had begun, the result being that most of them

1 Jer. iv. 13-16, 19-21.

2 Herodotus calls the goddess Aphrodite Urania, by which we must
understand Derketo or Atargatis, who is mentioned by several other classical
authors, e.g. Xanthus of Lydia, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Pliny. According
to Justin, the Scythians were stopped only by the marshes of the Delta.
The disease by which the Scythians were attacked is described by Hippo
crates ; but in spite of what he tells us about it, its precise nature has not
yet been determined.

THE TIDE OF INVASION 321

died on the way, and only a few survived to rejoin the
main body with their booty. For several months the tide
of invasion continued to rise, then it ebbed as quickly as
it had risen, till soon nothing was left to mark where it
had passed save a pathway of ruins, not easily made good,
and a feeling of terror which it took many a year to efface.
It was long before Judah forgot the " mighty nation, the
ancient nation, the nation whose language thou knowest
not, neither understandest thou what they say." l Men
could still picture in imagination their squadrons marauding
over the plains, robbing the fellah of his crops, his bread,
his daughters, his sheep and oxen, his vines and fig trees,
for " they lay hold on bow and spear ; they are cruel and
have no mercy ; their voice roareth like the sea, and they
ride upon horses ; every one set in array as a man to the
battle, 2 against thee, daughter of Sion. We have heard
the fame thereof ; our hands wax feeble ; anguish hath
taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail." 3

The supremacy of the Scythians was of short duration.
It was said in after-times that they had kept the whole of
Asia in a state of terror for twenty-eight years, dating from
their defeat of Cyaxares ; but the length of this period is
exaggerated. 4 The Medes soon recovered from their

1 Jer. v. 15 ; it seems curious that the Hebrew prophet should use the
epithet " ancient," when we remember that the Scythians claimed to be the
oldest nation in the world, older than even the Egyptians themselves.

2 An obvious allusion to the regular formation adopted by the Scythian
squadrons.

3 Jer. v. 17; vi. 23, 24.

4 The authenticity of the number of years given in Herodotus has been
energetically defended by some modern historians, and not less forcibly

VOL. VIII. Y

322 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAX EMPIRE

disaster, but before engaging their foes in open conflict,
they desired to rid themselves of the prince who had
conquered them, and on whom the fortunes of the whole
Scythian nation depended. Cyaxares, therefore, invited
Madyes and his officers to a banquet, and after plying them
to excess with meat and drink, he caused them all to be
slain. 1 The barbarians made a brave resistance, in spite of
the treason which had deprived them of their leaders : they
yielded only after a long and bloody campaign, the details
of which are unknown to us. Iranian legends wove into
the theme of their expulsion all kinds of fantastic or
romantic incidents. They related, for instance, how, in
combination with the Parthians, the Scythians, under the
leadership of their queen Zarina3a, several times defeated
the Medes : she consented at last to conclude a treaty on
equal terms, and peace having been signed, she retired to
her capital of Eoxanake, there to end her days. One body

denied by others, who reduce it, for example, in accordance with a doubtful
passage of Justin, to eight years. By assigning all the events relating to
the Scythian invaders to the mean period of twenty years, we should obtain
the length of time which best corresponds to what is actually known of the
general history of this epoch.

1 This episode is regarded as legendary by many modern historians.
Winckler even goes so far as to deny the defeat of the Scythians : according
to his view, they held possession of Media till their chief, Astyages, was
overthrown by Cyrus ; Host has gone even further, deeming even Cyaxares
himself to have been a Scythian. For my part, I see no reason to reject the
tradition of the fatal banquet. Without referring to more ancient illustra
tions, Noldeke recalls the fact that in a period of only ten years, from
1030 to 1040 A.D., the princes reigning over the Iranian lands rid themselves
by similar methods of the Turcoman bands which harassed them. Such a
proceeding has never been repugnant to Oriental morality, and it is of a
kind to fix itself in the popular mind : far from wishing to suppress it, I
should be inclined to see in it the nucleus of the whole tradition.

THE SCYTHIANS DRIVEN BACK BY CYAXARES 323

of the survivors re-entered Europe through the Caspian
Gates, another wandered for some time between the
Araxes and the Halys, seeking a country adapted to their
native instincts and customs. 1 Cyaxares, relieved from the
pressure put upon him by the Scythians, immediately
resumed his efforts against Assyria, and was henceforward
able to carry his plans to completion without encountering
any serious obstacle. It would be incorrect to say that the
Scythian invasion had overthrown the empire of the
Sargonids : it had swept over it like a whirlwind, but had
not torn from it one province, nor, indeed, even a single
city. The nations, already exhausted by their struggles
for independence, were incapable of displaying any energy
when the barbarians had withdrawn, and continued to bow
beneath the Ninevite yoke as much from familiarity with
habitual servitude as from inability to shake themselves
free. Assur-bani-pal had died about the year 625 B.C., after
a reign of forty-two years, and his son Assur-etililani had
assumed the double crown of Assyria and Babylon without
opposition. 2 Nineveh had been saved from pillage by the

Herodotus speaks of these Scythians as having lived at first on good
terms with Cyaxares.

; The date of Assur-bani-pal s death is not furnished by any Assyrian
monument, but is inferred from the Canon of Ptolemy, where Saosduchin or
Shamash-shumukin and Chinaladan or Assur-bani-pal each reigns forty-two
years, from 668 or 667 to 626 or 625 B.C. The order of succession of the last
Assyrian kings was for a long time doubtful, and Sin-shar-ishkun was placed
before Assur-etililani ; the inverse order seems to be now conclusively proved.
The documents which seemed at one time to prove the existence of a last
king of Assyria named Esarhaddon, identical with the Saracos of classical
writers, really belong to Esarhaddon, the father of Assur-bani-pal. [Another
king, Sin-sum-lisir, is mentioned in a contract dated at Nippur in his

324 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

strength of her ramparts, but the other fortresses, Assur,
Calah, and Dur-Sharrukin, had been destroyed during the
late troubles ; the enemy, whether Medes or Scythians,
had taken them by storm or reduced them by famine, and
they were now mere heaps of ruin, deserted save for a few
wretched remnants of their population. Assur-etililani
made some feeble attempts to restore to them a semblance
of their ancient splendour. He erected at Calah, on the
site of the palaces which had been destroyed by fire, a kind
of castle rudely built, and still more rudely decorated, the
rooms of which were small and low, and the walls of sun-
dried brick were panelled only to the height of about a yard
with slabs of limestone roughly squared, and without
sculpture or inscription : the upper part of the walls was
covered with a coating of uneven plaster. We do not
know how long the inglorious reign of Assur-etililani lasted,
nor whether he was assassinated or died a natural death.
His brother, Sin-shar-ishkun, 1 who succeeded him about
620 B.C., at first exercised authority, as he had done, over
Babylon as well as Nineveh, 2 and laboured, like his

accession year. He may have been the immediate predecessor of Sarakos.
ED.]

1 The name of this king was discovered by G. Smith on the fragments of
a cylinder brought from Kouyunjik, where he read it as Bel-zakir-iskun.
The real reading is Sin-shar-ishkun, and the similarity of this name with that
of Saracos, the last king of Assyria according to Greek tradition, strikes one
immediately. The relationship of this king to Assur-etililani was pointed
out by Father Scheil from the fragment of a tablet on which Sin-shar-
ishkun is declared to be the son of Assur-bani-pal, king of Assyria.

2 This may be deduced from a passage of Abydenus, where Saracos or
Sin-shar-ishkun sends Bussalossoros (that is, Nabopolassar) to defend
Chaldaea against the invasion of the peoples of the sea; so according to

THE REVOLT OF NABOPOLASSAR 325

predecessor, to repair the edifices which had suffered by
the invasion, making war on his neighbours, perhaps even
on the Medes, without incurring serious losses. The
Chaldseans, however, merely yielded him obedience from
force of habit, and the moment was not far distant when
they would endeavour to throw off his yoke. Babylon was
at that time under the rule of a certain Nabu-bal-uzur,
known to us as Nabopolassar, a Kaldu of ancient lineage,
raised possibly by Assur-bani-pal to the dignity of governor,
but who, in any case, had assumed the title of king on
"the accession of Assur-etililani. 1 His was but a local
sovereignty, restricted probably to the city and its
environs ; and for twelve or thirteen years he had rested
content with this secondary position, when an unforeseen
incident presented him with the opportunity of rising to the
first rank. Tradition asserted that an immense army
suddenly landed at the mouths of the Euphrates and the
Tigris ; probably under this story is concealed the memory
of one of those revolts of the Blt-Yakin and the tribes
dwelling on the shores of the Nar-Marratum, such as had
often produced consternation in the minds of the Sargonid

Abydenus, or rather Berosus, from whom Abydenus indirectly obtained his
information, Saracos was King of Babylon, as well as of Nineveh at the
beginning of his reign.

1 The Canon of Ptolemy makes Nabopolassar the direct successor of
Chinaladan, and his testimony is justified by the series of Babylonian con
tracts which exist in fairly regular succession from the second to the twenty-
first years of Nabopolassar. The account given by Berosus makes him
a general of Saracos, but the contradiction which this offers to the testimony
of the Canon can be explained if he is considered as a vassal-king ; the
kings of Egypt and of Media were likewise only satraps, according to
Babylonian tradition.

326 THE MEDES AND THE SECOXD CHALDEAN EMPIRE

kings. 1 Sin-shar-ishkun, distracted doubtless by other
anxieties, acted as his ancestors had done in similar circum
stances, and enjoined on his vassal to march against the
aggressors and drive them into the sea ; but Nabopolassar,
instead of obeying his suzerain, joined forces with the
rebels, and declared his independence. Assur-etililani and
his younger brother had possibly neglected to take the
hands of Bel, and were therefore looked upon as illegitimate
sovereigns. The annalists of later times erased their names
from the Eoyal Canon, and placed Nabopolassar immediately
after Assur-bani-pal, whom they called Kandalanu. But
however feeble Assyria had become, the cities on the
Lower Euphrates feared her still, and refused to ally them
selves with the pretender. Nabopolassar might perhaps
have succumbed, as so many before him had done, had he
been forced to rely entirely on his own resources, and he
might have shared the sad fate of Merodach-baladan or of
Shamash-shumukin ; but Marduk, who never failed to
show favour to his faithful devotees, " raised up help for
him and secured him an ally." The eyes of all who were
oppressed by the cruel yoke of Nineveh were now turned
on Cyaxares, and from the time that he had dispersed the
Scythian hordes it was to him that they looked for
salvation. Nabopolassar besought his assistance, which
the Median king graciously promised ; 2 it is even affirmed

1 Formerly these barbarians were identified with the remains of the
Scythian hordes, and this hypothesis has been recently revived by Prashek.
G. Rawlinson long ago recognised that the reference must be to the
Chaldaaans, who were perhaps joined by the Susians.

2 The Cylinder of Nabonidos, the only original document in which allusion
is made to the destruction of Nineveh, speaks of the Umman-Manda and

THE ASSISTANCE OF CYAXARES SOUGHT 327

that a marriage concluded between one of his daughters,
Amytis, and Nebuchadrezzar, the heir to the throne of
Babylon, cemented the alliance. 1 The western provinces
of the empire did not permit themselves to be drawn into
the movement, and Judah, for example, remained faithful

their king, whom it does not name, and it has been agreed to recognise
Cyaxares in this sovereign. On the other hand, the name of Umman-Manda
certainly designates in the Assyrian texts the wandering Iranian tribes
to whom the Greeks gave the name of Sakre or Scythians ; the result,
in the opinions of several Assyriologists of the present day, is that neither
Astyages nor Cyaxares were Medes in the sense in which we have hitherto
accepted them as such 011 the evidence of Herodotus, but that they
were Scythians, the Scythians of the great invasion. This conclusion
does not seem to me at present justified. The Babylonians, who up
till then had not had any direct intercourse either with the Madai or
the Umman-Manda, did as the Egyptians had done whether in Saite
or Ptolemaic times, continuing to designate as Khari, Kafiti, Lotanu,
and Khati the nations subject to the Pei sians or Macedonians ; they
applied a traditional name of olden days to present circumstances, and
I see, at present, no decisive reason to change, on the mere authority
of this one word, all that the classical writers have handed down concerning
the history of the epoch according to the tradition current in their
days.

1 The name of the princess is written Amuhia, Amyitis. The classical
sources, the only ones which mention her, make her the daughter of
Astyages, and this has given rise to various hypotheses. According to
some, the notice of this princess has no historical value. According to
others, the Astyages mentioned as her father is not Cyaxares the Mede,
but a Scythian prince who came to the succour of Nabopolassar, perhaps
a predecessor of Cyaxares on the Median throne, and in this case Phraortes
himself under another name. The most prudent course is still to admit
that Abydenus, or one of the compilers of extracts to whom we owe the
information, has substituted the name of the last king of Media for that
of his predecessor, either by mistake, or by reason of some chronological
combinations. Amyitis, transported into the harem of the Chaldsean
monarch, served, like all princesses married out of their own countries,
as a pledge for the faithful observance by her relatives of the treaty
which had been concluded.

328 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

to its suzerain till the last moment, 1 but Sin-shar-ishkuu
received no help from them, and was obliged to fight his
last battles single-handed. He shut himself up in Nineveh,
and held out as long as he could ; but when all his resources
were exhausted ammunitions of war, men and food
supplies he met his fate as a king, and burnt himself alive
in his palace with his children and his wives, rather than
fall alive into the hands of his conquerors (608 B.C.). The
Babylonians would take no part in pillaging the temples,
out of respect for the gods, who were practically identical
with their own, but the Medes felt no such scruples.
" Their king, the intrepid one, entirely destroyed the
sanctuaries of the gods of Assur, and the cities of Accad
which had shown themselves hostile to the lord of Accad,
and had not rendered him assistance. He destroyed their
holy places, and left not one remaining ; he devastated
their cities, and laid them waste as it were with a
hurricane." Nineveh laid low, Assyria no longer existed.
After the lapse of a few years, she was named only among
the legends of mythical days : two centuries later, her very
site was forgotten, and a Greek army passed almost under
the shadow of her dismantled towers, without a suspicion
that there lay before it all that remained of the city where
Semiramis had reigned in her glory. 2 It is true that
Egypt, Chaldaea, and the other military nations of the East,

1 It was to oppose the march of Necho against the King of Assyria that
Josiah fought the battle of Megiddo (2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30 ; cf. 2 Chron.
xxxv. 20-24, where the mention of the King of Assyria is suppressed).

2 This is what the Ten Thousand did when they passed before Larissa
and Mespila. The name remained famous, and later on the town which
bore it attained a relative importance.

THE DECLINE OF ASSYRIA 329

had never, in their hours of prosperity, shown the slightest
consideration for their vanquished foes ; the Theban
Pharaohs had mercilessly crushed Africa and Asia beneath
their feet, and had led into slavery the entire population of
the countries they had subdued. But the Egyptians and
Chaldeans had, at least, accomplished a work of civilization
whose splendour redeemed the brutalities of their acts of
reprisal. It was from Egypt and Chaldasa that the
knowledge and the arts of antiquity astronomy, medicine,
geometry, physical and natural sciences spread to the
ancestors of the classic races ; and though Chaldaea yields
up to us unwillingly, with niggard hand, the monuments of
her most ancient kings, the temples and tombs of Egypt
still exist to prove what signal advances the earliest
civilised races made in the arts of the sculptor and the
architect. But on turning to Assyria, if, after patiently
studying the successive centuries during which she held
supreme sway over the Eastern world, we look for other
results besides her conquests, we shall find she possessed
nothing that was not borrowed from extraneous sources.
She received all her inspirations from Chaldsea her
civilisation, her manners, the implements of her industries
and of agriculture, besides her scientific and religious
literature : one thing alone is of native growth, the military
tactics of her generals and the excellence of her soldiery.
From the day when Assyria first realised her own strength,
she lived only for war and rapine ; and as soon as the
exhaustion of her population rendered success on the field
of battle an impossibility, the reason for her very existence
vanished, and she passed away.

330 THE MEDES AND THE SECOXD CHALDEAN EMPIRE

Two great kingdoms rose simultaneously from her ruins.
Cyaxares claimed Assyria proper and its dependencies on
the Upper Tigris, but he specially reserved for himself the
yet unconquered lands on the northern and eastern frontiers,
whose inhabitants had only recently taken part in the
political life of the times. Nabopolassar retained the
suzerainty over the lowlands of Elam, the districts of
Mesopotamia lying along the Euphrates, Syria, Palestine,
and most of the countries which had hitherto played a part
in history ; l he claimed to exert his supremacy beyond
the Isthmus, and the Chaldsean government looked
upon the Egyptian kings as its feudatories because for
some few years they had owned the suzerainty of
Nineveh. 2 The Pharaoh, however, did not long tolerate
this pretension, and far from looking forward to bend the
knee before a Chaldaean monarch, he believed himself
strong enough to reassert his ancestral claims to the
possession of Asia. Egypt had experienced many changes
since the day when Tanuatamanu, returning to Ethiopia,
had abandoned her to the ambition of the petty dynasties

1 There was no actual division of the empire, as has been often asserted,
but each of the allies kept the portion which fell into his power at the
moment of their joint effort. The two new states gradually increased
in power by successive conquests, each annexing by degrees the ancient
provinces of Assyria nearest to its own frontier.

2 This seems to be implied by the terms in which Berosus speaks of
Necho : he considers him as a rebel satrap over the provinces of Egypt,
Ccele-Syria, and Phoenicia, and enumerates Egypt in conjunction with
Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia among the dependencies of Nabopolassar and
Nebuchadrezzar. Just as the Egyptian state documents never mentioned
the Lotanu or the Kharu without entitling them Children of Eebellion,
so the Chaldsean government, the heir of Assyria, could only look upon
the kings of Syria, Arabia, and Egypt as rebellious vassals.

ROMANCE OF PSAMMETICHUS I. 333

of the Delta. One of the romances current among the
people of Sais in the fifth century B.C. related that at that
time the whole land was divided between twelve princes.
They lived peaceably side by side in friendly relations
with each other, until an oracle predicted that the whole
valley would finally belong to that prince among them
who should pour a libation to Phtah into a brazen cup,
and thenceforward they jealously watched each other each
time they assembled to officiate in the temple of Memphis.
One day, when they had met together in state, and the
high priest presented to them the golden cups they were
wont to use, he found he had mistaken their number, and
had only prepared eleven. Psammetichus was therefore
left without one, and in order not to disarrange the
ceremonial he took off his brazen helmet and used it
to make his libation ; when the rest perceived this, the
words of the oracle came to their remembrance, and they
exiled the imprudent prince to the marshes along the
sea-coast, and forbade him ever to quit them. He secretly
consulted the oracle of Isis of Buto to know what he might
expect from the gods, and she replied that the means of
revenge would reach him from the sea, on the day when
brazen soldiers should issue from its waters. He thought
at first that the priests were mocking him, but shortly
afterwards Ionian and Carian pirates, clad in their coats
of mail, landed not far from his abode. The messenger
who brought tidings of their advent had never before
seen a soldier fully armed, and reported that brazen men
had issued from the waves and were pillaging the country.
Psammetichus, realising at once that the prediction was

334 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

being fulfilled, ran to meet the strangers, enrolled them
in his service, and with their aid overthrew successively
his eleven rivals. 1 A brazen helmet and an oracle had
dethroned him ; another oracle and brazen men had re
placed him on his throne. A shorter version of these
events made no mention of the twelve kings, but related
instead that a certain Pharaoh named Tementhes had been
warned by the oracle of Amon to beware of cocks. Now
Psammetichus had as a companion in exile a Carian
named Pigres, and in conversing with him one day, he
learned by chance that the Carians had been the first
people to wear crested helmets ; he recalled at once the
words of the oracle, and hired from Asia a number of
these "cocks," with whose assistance he revolted and
overthrew his suzerain in battle under the walls of
Memphis, close to the temple of Isis. Such is the

1 The account given by Diodorus of these events is in general derived
from that of Herodotus, with additional details borrowed directly or
indirectly from some historian of the same epoch, perhaps Hellanicus
of Mitylene : the reason of the persecution endured by Psammetichus
is, according to him, not the fear of seeing the prediction fulfilled, but
jealousy of the wealth the Saite prince had acquired by his commerce
with the Greeks. I have separated the narrative of Herodotus from
his account of the Labyrinth which did not originally belong to it, but
was connected with a different cycle of legends. The original romance
was part of the cycle which grew up around the oracle of Buto, so celebrated
in Egypt at the Persian epoch, several other fragments of which are
preserved in Herodotus ; it had been mixed up with one of the versions
of the stories relating to the Labyrinth, probably by some dragoman of
the Fayyum. The number twelve does not correspond with the information
furnished by the Assyrian texts, which enumerate more than twenty
Egyptian princes ; it is perhaps of Greek origin, like the twelve great
gods which the informants of Herodotus tried to make out in Egypt,
and was introduced into the Egyptian version by a Greek interpreter.

AMBITIOUS PROJECTS OF PSAMMETICHUS

335

legendary account of the Saite renaissance ; its true
history is not yet clearly and precisely known. Egypt
was in a state of complete disintegration when Psam-
metichus at length revived the ambitious projects of his
family, but the dissolution of the various component parts
had not everywhere taken place in the same manner. In
the north, the Delta and the Nile valley, as far as Siut,
were in the power of a military aristocracy, supported by

THREE HOPLITES IX ACTION.

.. i

irregular native troops and bands of mercenaries, for the
most part of Libyan extraction, who were always designated
by the generic name of Mashauasha. Most of these nobles
were in possession of not more than two or three cities
apiece : they had barely a sufficient number of supporters
to maintain their precarious existence in their restricted
domains, and would soon have succumbed to the attacks
of their stronger neighbours, had they not found a power
ful protector to assist them. They had finally separated
themselves into two groups, divided roughly by the central
arm of the Nile. One group comprised the districts that

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an archaic vase-painting in the
collection of Salztnann.

330 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

might be designated as the Asiatic zone of the country
Heliopolis, Bubastis, Mendes, Tanis, Busiris, and Seben-
nytos and it recognised as chief the lord of one or other
of those wealthy cities, now the ruler of Bubastis, now of
Tanis, and lastly Pakruru of Pisaptit. The second group
centred in the lords of Sais, to whom the possession of
Memphis had secured a preponderating voice in the
counsels of the state for more than a century. 1 The fiefs
and kingdoms of Middle Egypt wavered between the two
groups, playing, however, a merely passive part in affairs :
abandoning themselves to the stream of events rather than
attempting to direct it, they owed allegiance to Sais and
Tanis alternately as each prevailed over its rival. On
passing thence into the Thebaid a different world appeared
to be entered. There Amon reigned, ever increasingly
supreme, and the steady advance of his influence had
transformed his whole domain into a regular theocracy,
where the women occupied the highest position and could
alone transmit authority. At first, as we have seen, it
was passed on to their husbands and their children, but
latterly the rapidity with which the valley had changed
masters had modified this law of succession in a remark
able way. Each time the principality shifted its allegiance
from one king to another, the new sovereign naturally
hastened to install beside the divine female worshipper a

1 This grouping, which might already have been suspected from the
manner in which the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments of the period
show us the feudal princes rallying round Necho I. and Pakruru, is
indicated by the details in the demotic romance published by Krall,
where the foundation of the story is the state of Egypt in the time of
the " twelve kings."

"THE DIVINE WORSHIPPER" 337

man devoted to Ms interests, who should administer the
fief to the best advantage of the suzerain. It is impossible
to say whether he actually imposed this minister on her
as a husband, or whether the time came when she was
obliged to submit to as many espousals as there occurred
revolutions in the destinies of Egypt. 1 However this may
be, we know that from the first half of the seventh century
B.C. the custom arose of placing beside " the divine
worshipper " a princess of the dominant family, whom she
adopted, and who thus became her heiress-designate.
Taharqa had in this way associated one of his sisters,
Shapenuaplt II., with the queen Amenertas when the
latter had lost her husband, Pionkhi ; and Shapenuapit,
succeeding her adopted mother, had reigned over Thebes
in the Ethiopian interest during many years. There is
nothing to show that she was married, and perhaps she
was compensated for her official celibacy by being
authorised to live the free life of an ordinary Pallacide ; 2
her minister Montumihait directed her affairs for her so
completely that the Assyrian conquerors looked upon him
as petty king of Thebes. Tanuatamanu confirmed him in
his office when the Assyrians evacuated the Said, and the

* They would have been, in fact, in the same condition as the Hova
queens of our century, who married the ministers who reigned in their
names.

2 It is perhaps these last female descendants of the high priests that
are intended in a passage where Strabo speaks of the Pallacides who
were chosen from among the most noble families of the city. Diodorus
mentions their tombs, quoting from Hecatseus of Abdera, but he does not
appear to know the nature of their life ; but the name of Pallacides which
he applies to them proves that their manner of life was really that which
Strabo describes.

VOL. VIII. Z

338 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

few years which had elapsed since that event had in no

way modified the regime established immediately on their

departure.

It is uncertain how long Assur-bani-pal in the north,

and Tanuatamanu in the south, respec
tively maintained a precarious sovereignty
over the portions o-f Egypt nearest to
their own capitals. The opening of the
reign of Psammetichus seems to have
been fraught with difficulties, and the
tradition which represents him as pro
scribed by his peers, and confined to
the marshes of the sea-coast, has pro
bably a certain basis of truth. Pakruru,
who had brought all the western part
of the Delta under his own influence,
and who, incessantly oscillating between
Assyria and Ethiopia, had yet been able
to preserve his power and his life, had
certainly not of his own free will re
nounced the hope of some day wearing
the double crown. It was against him
or his successor that Psammetichus must
have undertaken his first wars, and it was
perhaps with the help of Assyrian

governors that the federal coalition drove him back to the

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. de Bissing. The statue,
whose feet are missing, represents either Amenertas I. or Mutertas ; it
was never completely finished, and several of the parts have never received
their final polish.

STATUE OF A THEBAN
QUEEX. 1

THE FINAL WITHDRAWAL OF THE ETHIOPIANS 339

coast. He extricated himself from this untoward situation
by the help of Greek and Asiatic mercenaries, his lonians
and Carians. Some historians stated that the decisive
battle was fought near Memphis, in sight of the temple of
Isis ; others affirmed that it took place at Momemphis, that
several of the princes perished in the conflict, and that the
rest escaped into Libya, whence they never returned ; others,
again, spoke of an encounter on the Nile, when the fleet of
the Saite king dispersed that of his rivals. It is, in fact,
probable that a single campaign sufficed for Psammetichus,
as formerly for the Ethiopian pretenders, to get the
upper hand, and that the Egyptian feudal lords submitted
after one or two defeats at most, hoping that, as in days
gone by, when the first dash made by the new Pharaoh
was over, his authority would decline, and their own
would regain the ascendency. Events showed that they
were deceived. Psammetichus, better served by his
Hellenes than Tafnakhti or Bocchoris had been by their
Libyans, or Pionkhi and Tanuatamanu by their Ethiopians,
soon consolidated his rule over the country he had
conquered. From 660 or 659 B.C. he so effectively
governed Egypt that foreigners, and even the Assyrians
themselves commonly accorded him the title of king. The
fall of the Ninevite rule had been involved in that of the
feudal lords, but it was generally believed that Assur-bani-
pal would leave no means untried to recall the countries of
the Nile to their obedience : Psammetichus knew this, and
knew also that, as soon as they were no longer detained
by wars or rebellions elsewhere, the Assyrian armies would
reappear in Egypt. He therefore entered into an alliance

340 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

with Gyges, 1 and subsequently, perhaps, with Shamash-
shumukin also ; then, while his former suzerain was
waging war in Elam and Chaldaea, he turned southwards,
in 658 B.C., and took possession of the Thebaid without
encountering any opposition from the Ethiopians, as his
ancestor Tafnakhti had from Pionkhi-Miamun. Mon-
tumihait negotiated this capitulation of Thebes, as he
had already negotiated so many others; in recompense
for this service, he was confirmed in his office, and his
queen retained her high rank. 3 A century or two earlier
Psammetichus would have married one of the princesses
of sacerdotal lineage, and this union would have sufficed
to legalise his position; perhaps he actually associated
Shapenuapit with himself by a show of marriage, but in
any case he provided her with an adopted daughter accord
ing to the custom instituted by the Ethiopian Pharaohs.
She already had one daughter by adoption, whom she
had received at the hands of Taharqa, and who, in chang
ing her family, had assumed the name of Amenertas
in honour of the queen who had preceded Shapenuapit :

1 The annexation of the Thebaid and the consequent pacification of
Egypt was an accomplished fact in the year IX. of Psammetichus I. The
analogy of similar documents, e.g. the stele of the high priest Menkhopirri,
shows that the ceremony of adoption which consecrated the reunion of
Upper and Lower Egypt cannot have been separated by a long interval
from the completion of the reunion itself : in placing this at the end
of the year VIII., we should have for the two events the respective dates of
658-657 and 657-656 B.C.

2 The part played by Montumihait in this affair is easily deduced:
(1) from our knowledge of his conduct some years previously under
Taharqa and Tanuatamanu ; (2) from the position he occupied at Thebes,
in the year IX., with regard to Shapenuapit, according to the stele of
Legrain.

THE REUNION OF THEBES WITH EGYPT 341

Psammetichus forced her to replace the Ethiopian princess
by one of his own daughters, who was henceforth called
Shapenuaptt, after her new mother. A deputation of the
nobles and priests of Thebes came to escort the princess
from Memphis, in the month of Tybi, in the ninth year
of the reign : Psammetichus formally presented her to
them, and the ambassadors, having listened to his address,
expatiated in the customary eulogies on his splendour
and generosity. " They shall endure as long as the
world lasteth ; all that thou ordainest shall endure. How
beautiful is that which God hath done for thee, how
glorious that which thy divine father hath done for thee ?
He is pleased that thy double should be commemorated,
he rejoices in the pronouncing of thy name, for our lord
Psammetichus has made a gift to his father Amon, he
has given him his eldest daughter, his beloved Nitauqrtt
Shapenuapit, to be his divine spouse, that she may shake
the sistrum before him ! On the 28th of Tybi the princess
left the harem, clothed in fine linen and adorned with
ornaments of malachite, and descended to the quay,
accompanied by an immense throng, to set out for her
new home. Relays stationed along the river at intervals
made the voyage so expeditious that at the end of
sixteen days the princess came in sight of Thebes.
She disembarked on the 14th of Khoiak, amid the
acclamations of the people : " She comes, the daughter
of the King of the South, Nitauqrlt, to the dwelling
of Amon, that he may possess her and unite her to
himself ; she comes, the daughter of the King of the
North, Shapenuapit, to the temple of Karnak, that the

342 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

gods may there chant her praises." As soon as the
aged Shapennapit had seen her coadjutor, " she loved
her more than all things," and assigned her a dowry,
the same as that which she had received from her own
parents, and which she had granted to her first adopted
daughter Amenertas. The magnates of Thebes the aged
Montumihait, his son Nsiphtah, and the prophets of
Amon vied with each other in their gifts of welcome :
Psammetichus, on his side, had acted most generously, and
the temples of Egypt assigned to the princess an annual
income out of their revenues, or bestowed upon her
grants of houses and lands, in all constituting a con
siderable inheritance, which somewhat consoled the Thebans
for their subjection to a dynasty emanating from the cities
of the north. The rest of the principality imitated the
example of Thebes and the whole of Egypt, from the
shores of the Mediterranean to the rocks of the first
cataract, once more found itself reunited under the sceptre
of an Egyptian king. A small part of Nubia, the portion
nearest to Elephantine, followed this movement, but the
greater part refused to cut itself off from the Ethiopians.
These latter were henceforth confined to the regions along
the middle course of the Nile, isolated from the rest of the
world by the deserts, the Bed Sea, and Egypt. It is
probable that they did not give up without a struggle
the hope of regaining the ground they had lost, and that
their armies made more than one expedition in a northerly
direction. The inhabitants of the Thebaid could hardly fail
to remain faithful to them at heart, and to recognise in
them the ligitimate representatives of the posterity of Amon ;

THE END OF GREATER EGYPT 343

it is possible that now and again they succeeded in pene
trating as far as the ancient capital, but if so, their success
was always ephemeral, and their sojourn left no permanent
traces. The same causes, however, which had broken up
the constituent elements, and destroyed the unity of
Greater Egypt at the end of the Theban period, were still
at work in Saite times to prevent the building up again
of the empire. The preservation of the balance of
power in this long and narrow strip of country depended
on the centre of attraction and on the seat of govern
ment being nearly equidistant from the two extremities.
This condition had been fulfilled as long as the court
resided at Thebes ; but as the removal of the seat of
government to the Delta caused the loss and separation
of the southern provinces, so its sudden return to the
extreme south, with a temporary sojourn at Napata,
necessarily produced a similar effect, and led to the speedy
secession of the northern provinces. In either case, the
dynasty placed at one extremity of the empire was
unable to sustain for any length of time the weight de
pending on it at the other ; when once the balance
became even slightly disturbed, it could not regain its
equilibrium, and there was consequently a sudden dis
location of the machinery of government.

The triumph of the Saite dynasty accomplished the
final ruin of the work begun under the Papis, and brought
to completion by the Amenemhaits and the Usirtasens.
Greater Egypt ceased to exist, after more than twenty
centuries of glorious life, and was replaced by the Little
Egypt of the first ages of history. The defeat of the

344 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

military chiefs of the north, the annexation of the prin
cipality of Am on, and the final expulsion of the Ethiopians
and the Asiatics had occupied scarcely nine years, but
these feats constituted only the smaller part of the work
Psammetichus had to accomplish : his subsequent task lay
in restoring prosperity to his kingdom, or, at all events, in
raising it from the state of misery into which two centuries
of civil wars and invasions had plunged it. The important
cities had suffered grievously : Memphis had been be
sieged and taken by assault by both Pionkhi and Esar-
haddon, Thebes had been twice sacked by the veterans
of Assur-bani-pal, and from Syene to Pelusium there was
not a township but had suffered at the hands of foreigners
or of the Egyptians themselves. The country had enjoyed
a moment s breathing-space under Sabaco, but the little
good which this prince had been able to accomplish was
effaced immediately after his death : the canals and dykes
had been neglected, the supervision of the police relaxed,
and the population, periodically decimated or driven to
take refuge in the strongholds, had often allowed the lands
to lie waste, so that famine had been superadded to the
other evils under which the land already groaned. Psam
metichus, having forced the feudal lords to submit to his
supremacy, deprived them of the royal titles they had
unduly assumed ; he no longer tolerated their habits of
private warfare, but restricted them to the functions of
hereditary governors, which their ancestors had exercised
under the conquering dynasties of former times, 1 and this

1 During the last few years records of a certain number of persons have
been discovered whose names and condition prove that they were the

THE RULE OF PSAMMETICHUS 345

enforced peace soon allowed the rural population to devote
themselves joyfully to their regular occupations. With so
fertile a soil, two or three years of security, during which
the fellahin were able to sow and reap their crops free from
the fear of marauding bands, sufficed to restore abundance,
if not wealth, to the country, and Psammetichus succeeded
in securing both these and other benefits to Egypt, thanks
to the vigilant severity of his administration. He would
have been unable to accomplish these reforms had he relied
only on the forces which had been at the disposal of his
ancestors the native troops demoralised by poverty, and
the undisciplined bands of Libyan mercenaries, which
constituted the sole normal force of the Tanite and
Bubastite Pharaohs and the barons of the Delta and
Middle Egypt. His experience of these two classes of
soldiery had decided him to look elsewhere for a less
precarious support, and ever since chance had brought him
in contact with the lonians and Carians, he had surrounded
himself with a regular army of Hellenic and Asiatic
mercenaries. It is impossible to exaggerate the terror
that the apparition of these men produced in the minds of
the African peoples, or the revolution they effected, alike
in peace or war, in Oriental states : the charge of the
Spanish soldiery amoDg the lightly clad foot-soldiers of
Mexico and Peru could not have caused more dismay than
did that of the hoplites from beyond the sea among the

descendants of semi-independent princes of the Ethiopian and Bubastite
periods : e.g. a certain Akaneshu, who was prince of Sebennytos under
Psammetichus I., and who very probably was the grandson of Akaneshu,
prince of the same town under Pionkhi ; and a Sheshonq of Busiris, who was
perhaps a descendant of Sheshonq, prince of Busiris under Pionkhi.

346 THE MEDES AiND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

half-naked archers and pikemen of Egypt and Libya.
With their bulging corselets, the two plates of which
protected back and chest, their greaves made of a single
piece of bronze reaching from the ankle to the knee, their
square or oval bucklers covered with metal, their heavy
rounded helmets fitting closely to the head and neck, and
surmounted by crests of waving plumes, they were, in
truth, men of brass, invulnerable to any Oriental weapon.
Drawn up in close array beneath their " tortoise," they
received almost unhurt the hail of arrows and stones hurled
against them by the lightly armed infantry, and then,
when their own trumpet sounded the signal for attack, and
they let themselves fall with their whole weight upon the
masses of the enemy, brandishing their spears above the
upper edge of their bucklers, there was no force of native
troops or company of Mashauasha that did not waver
beneath the shock and finally give way before their
attack. The Egyptians felt themselves incapable of
overcoming them except by superior numbers or by
stratagem, and it was the knowledge of their own hope
less inferiority which prevented the feudal lords from
attempting to revenge themselves on Psammetichus. To
make themselves his equals, they would have been
obliged either to take a sufficient number of similar warriors
into their own pay and this they were not able to afford
or they must have won over those already in the employ of
their suzerain ; but the liberality with which Psammetichus
treated his mercenaries gave them good cause to be faith
ful, even if military honour had not sufficed to keep them
loyal to their employer. Psammetichus granted to them

FIRST GREEK SETTLEMENTS IN EGYPT

347

and their compatriots, who were attracted by the fame of
Egypt, a concession of the fertile lands of the Delta
stretching along the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and he
was careful to separate the lonians from the Carians by the
whole breadth of the river : this was a wise precaution, for
their union beneath a common flag had not extinguished
their inherited hatred of one another, and the authority of
the general did not always suffice to prevent fatal quarrels
breaking out
between contin
gents of differ
ent nationalities.
They occupied,
moreover, regu
larly entrenched
camps, enclosed
within massive
walls, containing

a collection of mud huts or houses of brick, the whole
enclosure commanded by a fortress which formed the
headquarters of the general and staff of officers. Some
merchants from Miletus, emboldened by the presence of
their fellow-countrymen, sailed with thirty vessels into
the mouth of the Bolbitine branch of the Nile, and there
founded a settlement which they named the Fort of the
Milesians, and, following in their wake, successive relays
of emigrants arrived to reinforce the infant colony. The
king entrusted a certain number of Egyptian children to
the care of these Greek settlers, to be instructed in their
1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a restoration by Fl. Petrie.

THE SAITE FOKTRESS OF

348 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

language, 1 and the interpreters thus educated in their
schools increased in proportion as the bonds of commercial
and friendly intercourse between Greece and Egypt became
strengthened, so that ere long, in the towns of the Delta,
they constituted a regular class, whose function was to
act as intermediaries between the two races. By thus

bringing his subjects in contact
with an active, industrious, and
enterprising nation, full
of youthful vigour,,
Psammetichus no doubt
hoped to inspire them
with some of the quali
ties which he discerned
in the colonists, but
Egypt during the last
two centuries had suf
fered too much at the

EGYPTIAN GREEK. 2

hands of foreigners of GREEK. S

all kinds to be favourably disposed to these new-comers.
It would have been different had they presented themselves
in humble guise like the Asiatics and Africans to whom

1 Diodorus, or rather the historian whom he follows, assures us that
Psammetichus went still further, and gave his own children a Greek
education ; what is possible and even probable, is, that he had them taught
Greek. A bronze Apis in the Gizeh Museum was dedicated by an inter
preter who inscribed on it a bilingual inscription in hieroglyphics and Carian.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Fl, Petrie. The original statuette in
alabaster is now in the Gizeh Museum ; the Cyprian style of the figure is
easily recognised.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Fl. Petrie. The original limestone
statuette is in the Gizeh Museum.

HOSTILITY TOWARDS THE HELLENES 349

th

Egypt had opened her doors so freely after the XVIII
dynasty, and if they had adopted the obsequious manners
of the Phoenician and Hebrew merchants ; but they landed
from their ships fully equipped for war, and, proud of their
own courage and ability, they vied with the natives of the
ancient race, whether of plebeian or noble birth, for the
favour of the sovereign. Their language, their rude military
customs, their cunning devices in trade, even the astonish
ment they manifested at the civilisation of the country,
rendered them objects of disdain, as well as of jealous
hatred to the Egyptian. The food of which they partook
made them unclean in native estimation, and the horrified
fellah shunned contact with them from fear of defiling
himself, refusing to eat with them, or to use the same
knife or cooking-vessel : the scribes and members of the
higher classes, astonished at their ignorance, treated them
like children with no past history, whose ancestors a few
generations back had been mere savages.

Although unexpressed at first, this hostility towards
the Hellenes was not long in manifesting itself openly.
The Saite tradition attributed it to a movement of wounded
vanity. Psammetichus, to recompense the prowess of his
Ionian and Carian soldiers, had attached them to his own
person, and assigned to them the post of honour on the
right wing when the army was drawn up for review or
in battle array. 1 They reaped thus the double advantage

1 Diodorus Siculus states that it was during the Syrian war that the
king thus honoured his mercenary troops. Wiedemann thinks this is an
erroneous inference drawn from the passage of Herodotus, in which he
explains the meaning of the word Asmakh.

350 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

of the glory, which they greatly prized, and of the higher
pay attached to the title of body-guard, but the troops
who had hitherto enjoyed these advantages were naturally
indignant at losing them, and began to murmur. One
particularly galling circumstance at last caused their dis
content to break out. The eastern and southern frontiers
of Egypt were conterminous with those of two conquering
empires, Assyria and Ethiopia, and on the west the Libyan
tribes along the shores of the Mediterranean were powerful
enough to demand constant vigilance on the part of the
border garrisons. Psammetichus, among other reforms,
had reorganised the ancient system of defence. While
placing outposts at the entrance to the passes leading
from the desert into the Nile valley, he had concentrated
considerable masses of troops at the three most vulnerable
points the outlets of the road to Syria, the country
surrounding Lake Mareotis, and the first cataract; he
had fortified Daphnae, near the old town of Zalu, as a
defence against the Assyrians, Marea against the Libyan
Bedawin, and Elephantine against the Ethiopians. These
advanced posts had been garrisoned with native troops
who were quartered there for a year at a time. To be
condemned to such an exile for so long a period raised
in them a sense of profound indignation, but when the
king apparently forgot them and left them there three
years without sending other troops to relieve them, their
anger knew no bounds. They resolved to put an end to
such treatment, and as the hope of a successful rebellion
seemed but small, they decided to leave the country.
Two hundred and forty thousand of them assembled on

FLIGHT OF THE MASHAUASHA 351

a given day with their arms and baggage, and marched
in good order towards Ethiopia. Psaminetichus, warned
of their intentions when ifc was too late, hastened after
them with a handful of followers, and coming up with
them, besought them not to desert their national gods,
their wives, and their children. He had nearly prevailed
on them to return, when one soldier, with a significant
gesture, intimated that while manhood lasted they had
power to create new families wherever they might chance
to dwell. The details of this story betray the popular
legend, but nevertheless have a basis of truth. The
inscriptions from the time of Psammetichus onwards never
mention the Mashauasha, while their name and their
exploits constantly recur in the history of the preceding
dynasties : henceforth they and their chiefs vanish from
sight, and discord and brigandage simultaneously cease
in the Egyptian nomes. It was very probably the most
turbulent among these auxiliaries who left the country
in the circumstances above narrated : since they could
not contest the superiority of their Greek rivals, they
concluded that their own part was played out, and rather
than be relegated to the second rank, they preferred to
quit the land in a body. Psammetichus, thus deprived
of their support at the moment when Egypt had more
than ever need of all her forces to regain her rightful
position in the world, reorganised the military system as
best he could. He does not seem to have relied much
upon the contingents from Upper Egypt, to whom was
doubtless entrusted the defence of the Nubian frontier,
and who could not be withdrawn from their posts without

352 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

danger of invasion or revolt. But the source of imminent
peril did not lie in this direction, where Ethiopia, ex
hausted by the wars of Taharqa and Tanuatamanu,
perhaps needed repose even more than Egypt itself, but
rather on the Asiatic side, where Assur-bani-pal, in spite
of the complications constantly arising in Karduniash
and Elam, had by no means renounced his claims to the
suzerainty of Egypt. The Pharaoh divided the feudatory
militia of the Delta into two classes, which resided apart
in different sets of nomes. The first group, who were
popularly called Hermotybies, were stationed at Busiris,
Sais, and Khemmis, in the island of Prosopitis, and in
one half of Natho in fact, in the district which for the
last century had formed the centre of the principality
of the Saite dynasty : perhaps they were mostly of Libyan
origin, and represented the bands of Mashauasha who,
from father to son, had served under Tafnakhti and his
descendants. Popular report numbered them at 160,000
men, all told, and the total number of the other class,
known as the Calasiries, at 250,000 ; these latter belonged,
in my opinion, to the pure Egyptian race, and were met
with at Thebes, while the troops of the north, who were
more generally called out, were scattered over the territory
which formerly supported the Tanite and Bubastite kings,
and latterly Pakruru, and which comprised the towns of
Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes, Sebennytos, Athribis,
Pharbffithos, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anysis, and Myecphoris.
Each year one thousand Hermotybies and one thousand
Calasiries were chosen to form the royal body-guard, and
these received daily five minae of bread apiece, two mina3

MILITARY REORGANISATION 353

of beef, and four bowls of wine ; the jealousy which had
been excited by the Greek troops was thus lessened, as
well as the discontent provoked by the emigration. 1 The
King of Napata gladly welcomed the timely reinforcements
which arrived to fill up the vacancies in his army and
among his people, weakened by a century of rapid changes,
and generously gave them permission to conquer for them
selves some territory in the possession of his enemies !
Having driven out the barbarians, they established them
selves in the peninsula formed by the White and Blue
Niles, and their numbers increased so greatly that in
course of time they became a considerable nation. They
called themselves Asmakh, the men who stand on the
king s left hand, in memory of the affront put upon them,
and which they had avenged by their self-exile : Greek
travellers and geographers called them sometimes Automoli,
sometimes Sembrites, names which clung to them till
almost the beginning of our present era.

This departure of the Mashauasha was as the last blast
of wind after a storm : the swell subsided by degrees, and
peace reigned in the interior. Thebes accommodated

1 Calasiris, the exact transcription of KJiala-shiri, Khala-shere, signifying
young man. The meaning and original of the word transcribed Hermotybies
by Herodotus, and Hermotymbies according to a variant given by Stephen
of Byzantium, is as yet unknown, but it seems to me to conceal a title
analogous to that of Hir-mazatu, and to designate what remained of Libyan
soldiers in Egypt. This organisation of the army is described by Herodotus
as existing in his own days, and there were Calasiries and Hermotybies in
the Egyptian contingent which accompanied the army of Mardonius to
Greece ; it is nowhere stated that it was the work of Psammetichus, but
everything points to the conclusion that it was so, at all events in the form
in which it was known to the Greeks.

VOL. VIII. 2 A

354 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

itself as best it could to the new order of things under
the nominal administration of the Divine Spouses, the
two Shapenuapifcs. Building works were recommenced at
all points where it appeared necessary, and the need of
restoration was indeed pressing after the disorders occasioned
by the Assyrian invasion and the Ethiopian suzerainty.
At Karnak, and in the great temples on both banks of the
Nile, Psammetichus, respecting the fiction which assigned
the chief authority to the Pallacides, effaced himself in
favour of them, allowing them to claim all the merit of
the work ; in the cities they erected small chapels, in
which they are portrayed as queens fulfilling their
sacerdotal functions, humbly escorted by the viceroy who
in other respects exercised the real power. The king s
zeal for restoration is manifest all along the Nile, at
Coptos, Abydos, 1 and in the plains of the Delta, which
are crowded with memorials of him. His two favourite
capitals were Memphis and Sais, on both of which he
impartially lavished his favours. At Memphis he built
the propylons on the south side of the temple of Phtah,
and the court in which the living Apis took his exercise
and was fed : this court was surrounded by a colonnade,
against the pillars of which were erected statues twelve
cubits high, probably representing Osiris as in the Eames-
seum and at Medinet-Habu. Apis even when dead also
received his share of attention. Since the days when
Ramses II. had excavated the subterranean Serapeum as

1 The first Egyptologists attributed the prenominal cartouche of Psam
metichus I. to Psammetichus II., and vice versa : this error must always be
kept in mind in referring to their works.

RESUMPTION OF WORKS IX EGYPT

355

a burial-place of the sacred bulls, no subsequent Pharaoh
who had reigned at Memphis had failed to embellish their
common tomb, and to celebrate with magnificence their
rites of sepulture. The body of the Apis, carefully

CHAMBER AXD SARCOPHAGUS OF AN APIS. 1

embalmed, was sealed up in a coffin or sarcophagus of
hard stone, the mouth of the vault was then walled up,
and against the fresh masonry, at the foot of the neigh
bouring rocks, on the very floor of the passage, or

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving published in Marietta.

356 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

wherever there was a clear space available, .the high
dignitaries, the workmen or the priests who had taken
any part in the ceremonial, set up a votive stele calling
down upon themselves and their families divine benedic
tions. The gallery was transformed by degrees into a

THE GREAT GALLERY OF THE SERAPEO1. 1

kind of record-office, where each dynasty in turn recorded
its name, whenever a fresh apotheosis afforded them the
opportunity : these records were discovered in our own
time by Mariette, almost perfect in spite of the destroying
hand of men, and comprised inscriptions by the Bubastites,
by Bocchoris, and even by the Ethiopians. Taharqa,
when menaced by the Assyrians, had stayed at Memphis,

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving of Deveria.

A THOROUGH RESTORATION 357

only a year before his death, in the interval between two
campaigns, in order to bury an Apis, and Psammetichus
likewise took care not to neglect this part of his regal
duties. He at first was content to imitate his predecessors,
but a subsidence having occurred in that part of the
Serapeum where the Apis who had died in the twentieth
year of his reign reposed, he ordered his engineers to bore
another gallery in a harder vein of limestone, and he per
formed the opening ceremony in his fifty-second year. It
was the commencement of a thorough restoration. The
vaults in which the sacred bulls were entombed were
severally inspected, the wrappings were repaired together
with the mummy cases, the masonry of the chapel was
strengthened, and the building endowed with woods,
stuff s, perfumes, and the necessary oils. No less activity
apparently was displayed at Sais, the native home and
favourite residence of the Pharaoh ; but all the monuments
which adorned the place, including the temple of Nit,
and the royal palace, have been entirely destroyed ; the
enclosing wall of unbaked bricks alone remains, and here
and there, amid the debris of the houses, may be seen some
heaps of shattered stone where the public buildings once
stood. On several blocks the name and titles of Psam
metichus may yet be deciphered, and there are few cities
in the Delta which cannot make a similar show. From
one end of the Nile valley to the other the quarries were
reopened, and the arts, stimulated by the orders which
flowed in, soon flourished anew. The engraving of
hieroglyphics and the art of painting both attained a
remarkable degree of elegance ; fine statues and bas-

358 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

reliefs were executed in large numbers, and a widely
spread school of art was developed. The local artists had
scrupulously observed and handed down the traditions
which obtained in the time of the Pyramids, and more
especially those of the first Theban period ; even the few
fragments that have come down to us of the works of
these artists in the age of the Ramessides recall rather
the style of the VI th and XII th dynasties than that of their
Theban contemporaries. Their style, brought to perfection
by evident imitation of the old Memphite masters, pleases
us by its somewhat severe elegance, the taste shown in
the choice of detail, and the extraordinary skill displayed
in the working of the stone. The Memphites had by
preference used limestone for their sculpture, the Thebans
red and grey granite or sandstone ; but the artists of the
age of Psammetichus unhesitatingly attacked basalt,
breccia, or serpentine, and obtained marvellous effects
from these finely grained materials of regular and even
texture. The artistic renaissance which they brought
to its height had been already inaugurated under the
Ethiopians, and many of the statues we possess of the
reign of Taharqa are examples of excellent workmanship.
That of Amenertas was over-praised at the time of its
discovery; the face, half buried by the wig which we
usually associate with the statues of the goddesses, has
a dull and vacant expression in spite of its set smile,
and the modelling of the figure is rather weak, but
nevertheless there is something easy and refined in
the gracefulness of the statue as a whole. A statuette
of another " Divine Spouse," though mutilated and

THE RENAISSANCE OF ART IN EGYPT 359

unfinished, is pleasing from its greater breadth of style,
although such breadth is rarely found in the works of
this school, which toned down, elongated, and attenuated
the figure till it often lost in vigour what it gained in
distinction. The one point in which the Saite artists
made a real advance, was in the treatment of the heads
of their models. The expression is often refined and
idealised as in the case of older works, but occasionally
the portraiture is exact even to coarseness. It was not

MEMPHITK IUS-KELIEF OF THE SAITE EPOCH. 1

the idealised likeness of Montumihait which the artist
wished to portray, but Montumihait himself, with his
low forehead, his small close-set eyes, his thin cheeks,
and the deep lines about his nose and mouth. And
besides this, the wrinkles, the crows feet, the cranial
projections, the shape of ear and neck, are brought out
with minute fidelity. A statue was no longer, as in
earlier days, merely a piece of sacred stone, the support
of the divine or human double, in which artistic value

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a heliogravure in Mariette. The bas-relief
was worked into the masonry of a house in Memphis in the Byzantine period,
and it was in order to fit it to the course below that the masons bevelled the
lower part of it.

360 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

was an accessory of no importance and was esteemed
only as a guarantee of resemblance : without losing aught
of its religious significance, a statue henceforward became
a work of art, admired and prized for the manner in
which the sculptor faithfully represented his model, as
well as for its mystic utility.

The reign of Psammetichus lasted till nearly the end
of the century, and was marked by peace both at home
and abroad. No doubt skirmishes of some kind took
place in Lydia and Nubia, but we know nothing of them,
nor have we any account of engagements with the Asiatics
which from time to time must have taken place during
this reign. Psammetichus followed with a vigilant eye the
revolutionary changes beyond the isthmus, actuated at
first by the fear of an offensive movement on the part of
Syria, and when that ceased to be a danger, by the hope
of one day recovering, in Southern Syria, at all events,
that leading position which his predecessors had held so
long. Tradition asserts that he wisely confined his
ambition to the conquest of the Philistine Pentapolis ; it
is even reported that he besieged Ashdod for twenty-nine
years before gaining possession of it. If we disregard the
cipher, which is evidently borrowed from some popular
romance, the fact in itself is in no way improbable.
Ashdod was a particularly active community, and had
played a far more important part in earlier campaigns
than any other member of the Pentapolis. It possessed
outside the town proper, which was situated some little
distance from the coast, a seaport similar to that of
Gaza, and of sufficient size to shelter a whole fleet.

THE SYRIAN POLICY OF PSAMMETICHUS I.

361

Whoever held this harbour could exercise effective con
trol over the main routes leading from Syria into Egypt.
Psammetichus probably undertook this expedition towards
the end of his life, when the victories gained by the Medes

1

THE RUINS OF SA1S. 1

had demonstrated the incapacity of Assyria to maintain
the defence of her distant provinces. 2 The attack of the

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Golenischeif.

2 At one time I was inclined to explain this period of twenty-nine years
by assuming that the fall of Ashdod took place in the twenty-ninth year of the
king s reign, and that Herodotus had mistaken the date of its surrender for
the duration of the siege : such an hypothesis is, however, unnecessary,

THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

Scythians, which might have proved dangerous to Egypt,
had it been pushed far enough, had left her unharmed, and
was in the end even advantageous to her. It was subse
quent to the retreat of the barbarians, no doubt, that Psam-
metichus sent his troops into Philistia and succeeded in
annexing the whole or part of it. After this success
he was content to wait and watch the course of events.
The surprising revival of Egypt must have had the effect
of infusing fresh life into the Egyptian factions existing
in all the autonomous states, and in the prefectures of
Syria. The appearance of the Pharaoh s troops, and the
toleration of their presence within the territory of the
Assyrian empire, aroused on all sides the hope of deliver
ance, and incited the malcontents to take some immediate
action.

We do not know what may have happened at Tyre
and Sidon, or among the peoples of Edom and Arabia,
but Judah, at any rate, under the rule of Josiah, carefully
abstained from any action inconsistent with the pledge
of fidelity which it had given to Assyria. Indeed, the
whole kingdom was completely absorbed in questions of
a theological nature, and the agitations which affected
the religious life of the nation reacted on its political

since it is very probable that we have here one of those exaggerated estimates
of time so dear to the hearts of popular historians. If we are to believe the
account given by Diodorus, it was in Syria that Psammetichus granted the
honour of a place in the right wing of his army to the Greek mercenaries :
the capture of Ashdod must, in this case, have occurred before the emigra
tion of the native troops. In Jer. xxv. 20, reference is made to " the
remnant of Ashdod," in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.c, about 603 B.C.,
and the decadence of the city is generally attributed to the war with Egypt ;
it might with equal probability be ascribed to the Scythian invasion.

THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE NATION 363

life as well. Josiali, as lie grew older, began to identify
himself more and more with the doctrines taught hy the
prophets, and, thanks to his support, the party which
sought to complete the reforms outlined by Hezekiah
gained fresh recruits every day. The opposition which
they had formerly aroused among the priests of the temple
had gradually died out, partly as the result of genuine
conviction, a,nd partly because the priests had come to
realise that the establishment of a single exclusive
sanctuary would work for their own interest and advan
tage. The high priest Hilkiah took up the line followed
by Jeremiah, and was supported by a number of influential
personages such as Shaphan the scribe, son of Azaliah,
Ahikam, Achbor son of Micaiah, and a prophetess named
Huldah, who had married the keeper of the royal ward
robe. The terrors of the Scythian invasion had oppressed
the hearts and quickened the zeal of the orthodox.
Judah, they declared, had no refuge save Jahveh alone;
all hope was lost if it persisted in the doctrines which
had aroused against the faithless the implacable wrath
of Jahveh ; it must renounce at once those idols and
superstitious rites with which His worship had been
disfigured, and overthrow the altars which were to be
found in every part of the country in order to concen
trate all its devotion on the temple of Solomon. In a
word, Judah must return to an observance of the strict
letter of the law, as it had been followed by their fore
fathers. But as this venerable code was not to be found
either in the " Book of the Covenant or in any of the
other writings held sacred by Israel, the question naturally

364 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

arose as to where it was now hidden. In the eighteenth
year of his reign, Josiah sent Shaphan the scribe to the
temple in order to audit the accounts of the sums collected
at the gates for the maintenance of the building. After
the accounts had been checked, Hilkiah suddenly declared
that he had " found the Book of the Law" in the temple,
and thereupon handed the document to Shaphan, who
perused it forthwith. On his return to the palace, the
scribe made his report : " Thy servants have emptied
out the money that was found in the house, and have
delivered it into the hand of the workmen ; then he
added " Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book,"
and proceeded to read it to the king. When the latter
had heard the words contained in this Book of the Law,
he was seized with anguish, and rent his garments ;
then, unable to arrive at any decision by himself, he
sent Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam, Achbor, and Asaiah to
inquire of Jahveh for him and for his people, "for
great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against
us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the
words of this book, to do according unto all that which
is written concerning us." The envoys betook them
selves not to the official oracle or the recognised
prophets, but to a woman, the prophetess Huldah, who
was attached to the court in virtue of her husband s
office ; and she bade them, in the name of the Most
High, to summon a meeting of the faithful, and, after
reading the new code to them, to call upon all present
to promise that they would henceforth observe its ordi
nances : thus Jahveh would be appeased, and since the

THE BOOK OF THE LAW 365

king had "rent his garments and wept before Me, I
also have heard thee, saith Jahveh. Therefore, behold,
I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
gathered to thy grave in peace." Josiah thereupon
having summoned the elders of Judah and Jerusalem,
went up into the temple, and there, standing on the
platform, he read the Book of the Law in the presence
of the whole people. 1

It dealt with questions which had been frequent
subjects of debate in prophetic circles since the days of
Hezekiah, and the anonymous writer who had compiled it
was so strongly imbued with the ideas of Jeremiah, and
had so closely followed his style, that some have been
inclined to ascribe the work to Jeremiah himself. It
has always been a custom among Orientals to affirm that
any work for which they profess particular esteem was dis
covered in the temple of a god; the Egyptian priests, for
instance, invented an origin of this nature for the more
important chapters of their Book of the Dead, and for the
leading treatises in the scientific literature of Egypt. The
author of the Book of the Law had ransacked the distant
past for the name of the leader who had delivered Israel
from captivity in Egypt. He told how Moses, when he

1 2 Kings xxii. 3-20; xxiii. 1, 2. The narrative has undergone slight
interpolation in places, e.g. verses 4&, 5a, 6, and 7, where the compiler has
made it harmonise with events previously recorded in connection with the
reign of Joash (2 Kings xii. 6-16). The beginning of Huldah s prophecy
was suppressed, when the capture of Jerusalem proved that the reform of
divine worship had not succeeded in averting the wrath of Jahveh. It pro
bably contained directions to read the Book of the Covenant to the people,
and to persuade them to adopt its precepts, followed by a promise to save
Judah provided it remained faithful to its engagements.

360 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

began to feel the hand of death upon him, determined to
declare in Gilead the decrees which Jahveh had delivered
to him for the guidance of His people. 1 In these ordinances
the indivisible nature of God, and His jealousy of any
participation of other deities in the worship of His people,
are strongly emphasised. "Ye shall surely destroy all the
places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served
their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills,
and under every green tree : and ye shall break down their
altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their
Asherim with fire ; and ye shall hew down the graven
images of their gods ; and ye shall destroy their name out
of that place." 2 Even were a prophet or dreamer of dreams
to arise in the midst of the faithful and direct them by a
sign or a miracle to turn aside after those accursed gods,
they must not follow the teaching of these false guides, not
even if the sign or miracle actually came to pass, but must
seize and slay them. Even " if thy brother, the son of thy
mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy
bosorn, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice
thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, . . .
thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him :
neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare,
neither shalt thou conceal him : but thou shalt surely kill
him ; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to

1 Even St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom admitted that Deuteronomy
was the book discovered by Hilkiah in the temple during the reign of Josiah,
and this view is accepted at present, though it is applied, not to the book of
Deuteronomy as it appears in the Pentateuch, but rather to the nucleus of
this book, and especially chaps, xii.-xxvi.

2 Deut. xii. 2, 3.

THE BOOK OP THE LAW READ IN PUBLIC 307

death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And
thou shalt stone him with stones that he die ; because he
hath sought to draw thee away from Jahveh ! " 1 And this
Jahveh was not the Jahveh of any special place. He was
not the Jahveh of Bethel, or of Dan, or of Mizpah, or of
Geba, or of Beersheba; He is simply Jahveh. 2 Yet the
seat of His worship was not a matter of indifference to
Him. " Unto the place which Jahveh shall choose out of
all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His
habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come : and
thither shall ye bring your . . . sacrifices and your tithes."
Jerusalem is not mentioned by name, but the reference to
it was clear, since every one knew that the suppression of
the provincial sanctuaries must necessarily benefit it. One
part of the new code dealt with the relations between
different members of the community. The king was to
approximate as closely as possible to the ideal priest ; he
was not to lift up his heart above his brethren, nor set his
mind on the possession of many chariots, horses, or wives,
but must continually read the law of God and ponder over
His ordinances, and observe them word for word all the
days of his life. 4 Even in time of war he was not to put
his trust in his soldiers or in his own personal valour ; here

1 Deut. xiii. 1-10.

2 Deut. vi. 4. The expression found in Zcch. xiv. 9 was borrowed from
the second of the introductions added to Deuteronomy at a later date ; the
phrase harmonises so closely with the main purpose of the book itself, that
there can be no objection to employing it here.

3 Deut. xii. 5, 6.

4 Deut. xvii. 14-20; cf. xx. 1-9 for the regulations in regard to the
levying of troops.

308 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

again he must allow himself to be guided by Jahveh, and
must undertake nothing without first consulting Him
through the medium of His priests. The poor, 1 the widow,
and the orphan, 2 the bondservant, 3 and even the stranger
within the gates in remembrance of the bondage in
Egypt 4 were all specially placed under the divine
protection ; every Jew who had become enslaved to a
fellow-countryman was to be set at liberty at the end of
six years, and was to receive a small allowance from his
master which would ensure him for a time against starva
tion. 5 The regulations in regard to divine worship had not
as yet been drawn up in that spirit of hair-splitting minute
ness which, later on, became a characteristic of Hebrew
legislation. Only three great festivals are mentioned in
the Book of the Law. The Passover was celebrated in the
month of Abib, when the grain is in the ear, and had
already come to be regarded as commemorative of the
Exodus ; but the other two, the Feast of Weeks and the

1 As to the poor, and the charitable obligations towards them imposed
by their common religion, cf . Dent. xv. 7-1 1 ; as to the rights of the hired
servant, cf. xxiv. 14, 15.

2 Dent, xxiv, 17-22 forbids the taking of a widow s clothing in pledge,
and lays down regulations in regard to gleaning permitted to widows and
orphans (cf. Lev. xix. 9, 10) ; reference is also made to their share in triennial
tithe (Dcut. xiv. 28, 29 ; xxvi. 12, 13) and in the solemn festivals (Deut.
xvi. 11-14).

3 Slaves were allowed to share in the rejoicings during the great festivals
(Deut. xvi. 11, 14), and certain rights were accorded to women taken
prisoners in war who had become their captors concubines (Deut. xxi.
10-14).

4 Participation of the stranger in the triennial tithe (Deut. xiv. 28, 29 ;
xxvi. 12, 13).

5 J)ettt t xv. 12-18.

CLAIMS OF THE PRIEST 309

Feast of Tabernacles, were merely associated with the
agricultural seasons, and took place, the former seven
weeks after the beginning of the harvest, the latter after
the last of the crops had been housed. 1 The claim of the
priest to a share in the victim and in the offerings made on
various occasions is maintained, and the lawgiver allows
him to draw a similar benefit from the annual and triennial
tithes which he imposes on corn and wine and on the first
born of cattle, the produce of this tithe being devoted to
a sort of family festival celebrated in the Holy Place. 2
The priest was thus placed on the same footing as the poor,
the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, and his influence
was but little greater than it had been in the early days of
the monarchy. It was to the prophet and not to the
priest that the duty belonged of directing the public
conscience in all those cases for which the law had made
no provision. " I will put My words into his mouth (said
Jahveh), and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever
will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in
My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet which
shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I
have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in
the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And
if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word
which the Lord hath not spoken ? when a prophet
speaketh in the name of Jahveh, if the thing follow not,

1 Deut. xvi. 1-17.

1 Deut. xviii. 1-8 ; as to the share in the triennial tithe, cf. Deuf. xiv.
28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13.

VOL. VIII. 2 B

370 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jahveh hath not
spoken : the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously ; thou
shalt not he afraid of him." l

When the reading of the law had ended, Josiah implored
the people to make a covenant with Jahveh ; that is to
say, " to walk after Jahveh, and to keep His command
ments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all their
hearts and all their souls, to confirm the words of this
covenant that were written in this book." The final words,
which lingered in every ear, contained imprecations of even
more terrible and gloomy import than those with which
the prophets had been wont to threaten Judah. " If thou
wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jahveh thy God, to
observe to do all His commandments and His statutes
which I command thee this day ; then all these curses
shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt
thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
ground, the increase of thy kine, and the young of thy
flock. . . . Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man
shall lie with her ; thou shalt build an house, and shalt not
dwell therein : thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not
use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine
eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof. . . . Thy sons and
thy daughters shall be given unto another people ; and
thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the
day : and there shall be naught in the power of thine
hand. . . . Jahveh shall bring a nation against thee from

1 Dent, xviii. 9-22.

JOSIAH S RELIGIOUS REFORMS 371

far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle fiieth ; a nation
whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; a nation of fierce
countenance, which shalt not regard the person of the old,
nor show favour to the young." This enemy was to burn
and destroy everything : " and he shall besiege thee in all
thy gates, throughout all thy land, which Jahveh thy God
hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine
own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters . . .
in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall straiten
thee." Those who escape must depart into captivity, and
there endure for many a long year the tortures of direst
slavery; "thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and
thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none
assurance of thy life : in the morning thou shalt say,
Would God it were even ! and at even thou shalt say,
Would God it were morning ! for the fear of thine heart
which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes
which thou shalt see." l The assembly took the oath
required of them, and the king at once displayed the
utmost zeal in exacting literal performance of the ordi
nances contained in the Book of the Law. His first step
was to purify the temple : Hilkiah and his priests over
threw all the idols contained in it, and all the objects that
had been fashioned in honour of strange gods the Baals,
the Asherim, and all the Host of Heaven and, carrying
them out of Jerusalem into the valley of the Kidron, cast

1 Dent, xxviii. The two sets of imprecations (xxvii., xxviii.) which
terminate the actual work are both of later redaction, but the original MS.
undoubtedly ended with some analogous formula. I have quoted above the
most characteristic parts of the twenty-eighth chapter.

372 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

them into the flames, and scattered the ashes upon the
place where all the filth of the city was cast out. The
altars and the houses of the Sodomites which defiled the
temple courts were demolished, the chariots of the sun
hroken in pieces, and the horses of the god sent to the
stables of the king s chamberlain ; * the sanctuaries and
high places which had been set up at the gates of the city,
in the public places, and along the walls were razed to the
ground, and the Tophet, where the people made their
children pass through the fire, was transformed into a
common sewer. The provincial sanctuaries shared the fate
of those of the capital; in a short time, from Geba to
Beersheba, there remained not one of those "high places,"
at which the ancestors of the nation and their rulers had
offered prayers for generations past. The wave of reform
passed even across the frontier and was borne into the
Assyrian province of Samaria ; the temple and image
which Jeroboam had set up at Bethel were reduced to
ashes, and human bones were burnt upon the altar to
desecrate it beyond possibility of purification. 1 The
governor offered no objection to these acts ; he regarded
them, in the first place, as the private affairs of the
subjects of the empire, with which he had no need to
interfere, so long as the outburst of religious feeling did

* [The Hebrew text admits of this meaning, which is, however, not clear
in the English A.V. TE.]

1 2 Kings xxiii. 3-20, 24-27, where several glosses and interpolations are
easily recognisable, such as the episode at Bethel (v. 15-20), the authenticity
of which is otherwise incontestable. The account in 2 Chron. xxxiv. is a
defaced reproduction of that of 2 Kings, and it places the reform, in part at
least, before the discovery of the new law.

THE PASSOVER OF KING JOSIAH 373

not tend towards a revolt : we know, moreover, that
Josiah, guided on this point by the prophets, would have
believed that he was opposing the divine will had he
sought to free himself from the Assyrian yoke by ordinary
political methods; besides this, in 621, under Assur-
etililani, five years after the Scythian invasion, the prefect
of Samaria had possibly not sufficient troops at his disposal
to oppose the encroachments of the vassal princes. It was
an affair of merely a few months. In the following year,
when the work of destruction was over, Josiah commanded
that the Passover should be kept in the manner prescribed
in the new book ; crowds flocked into Jerusalem, from
Israel as well as from Judah, and the festival made a deep
impression on the minds of the people. Centuries after
wards the Passover of King Josiah was still remembered :
" There was not kept such a Passover from the days of the
Judges . . . nor in all the days of the Kings of Israel, nor
of the Kings of Judah." 1 The first outburst of zeal

1 2 Kings xxiii. 21-23 ; cf. 2 Cliron. xxxv. 1-19. The text of the
Septuagint appears to imply that it was the first Passover celebrated in
Jerusalem. It also gives in chap. xxii. 3, after the mention of the eighteenth
year, a date of the seventh or eighth month, which is not usually accepted,
as it is in contradiction with what is affirmed in chap, xxiii. 21-23, viz. that
the Passover celebrated at Jerusalem was in the same year as the reform, in
the eighteenth year. It is to do a way with the contradiction between these
two passages that the Hebrew text has suppressed the mention of the month.
I think, however, it ought to be considered authentic and be retained, if we
are allowed to place the celebration of the Passover in what would be one
year after. To do this it would not be needful to correct the regnal date
in the text : admitting that the reform took place in 621, the Passover of
620 would still quite well have taken place in the eighteenth year of Josiah,
that being dependent on the time of year at which the king had ascended
the throne.

371 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

having spent itself, a reaction was ere long "bound to set in
both among the ruling classes and among the people, and
the spectacle that Asia at that time presented to their view
was truly of a nature to incite doubts in the minds of the
faithful. Assyria that Assyria of which the prophets had
spoken as the irresistible emissary of the Most High had
not only failed to recover from the injuries she had received
at the hands, first of the Medes, and then of the Scythians,
but had with each advancing year seen more severe wounds
inflicted upon her, and hastening her irretrievably to her
ruin. And besides this, Egypt and Chald&a, the ancient
kingdoms which had for a short time bent beneath her
yoke, had now once more arisen, and were astonishing the
world by their renewed vigour. Psammetichus, it is true,
after having stretched his arm across the desert and laid
hands upon the citadel which secured to him an outlet into
Syria for his armies, had proceeded no further, and thus
showed that he was not inclined to reassert the ancient
rights of Egypt over the countries of the Jordan and the
Orontes; but he had died in 611, and his son, Necho II.,
who succeeded him, did not manifest the same peaceful
intentions. 1 If he decided to try his fortune in Syria,
supported by his Greek and Egyptian battalions, what
would be the attitude that Judah would assume between
moribund Assyria and the kingdom of the Pharaohs in its
renewed vigour ?

1 The last dated stele of Psammetichus I. is the official epitaph of the
Apis which died in his fifty-second year. On the other hand, an Apis, born
in the fifty-third year of Psammetichus, died in the sixteenth year of Necho,
after having lived 16 years, 7 months, 17 days. A very simple calculation

NECHO II. INVADES SYRIA 375

It was in the spring of 608 that the crisis occurred.
Nineveh, besieged by the Medes, was on the point of
capitulating, and it was easy to foresee that the question
as to who should rule there would shortly be an open
one : should Egypt hesitate longer in seizing what she
believed to be her rightful heritage, she would run the
risk of finding the question settled and another in
possession. Necho quitted Memphis and made his way
towards the Asiatic frontier with the army which his
father had left to him. It was no longer composed of
the ill-organised bands of the Ethiopian kings or the
princes of the Delta, temporarily united under the rule
of a single leader, but all the while divided by reciprocal
hatreds and suspicions which doomed it to failure. All
the troops which constituted it Egyptians, Libyans, and
Greeks alike were thoroughly under the control of their
chief, and advanced in a compact and irresistible mass
" like the Nile : like a river its volume rolls onward. It
said : I arise, I inundate the earth, I will drown cities
and people ! Charge, horses ! Chariots, fly forward at
a gallop ! Let the warriors march, the Ethiopian and the
Libyan under the shelter of his buckler, the fellah bending
the bow ! " 1 As soon as Josiah heard the news, he called
together his troops and prepared to resist the attack.

shows that Psammetichus I. reigned fifty-four years, as stated by Herodotus
and Manetho, according to Julius Africanus.

1 Jer. xlvi. 7-9, where the prophet describes, not the army which
marched against Josiah, but that which was beaten at Carchemish. With
a difference of date of only three or four years, the constituent elements of
the army were certainly the same, so that the description of one would apply
to the other.

376 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD.ZEAN EMPIRE

Necho affected not to take his demonstrations seriously,
and sent a disdainful message recommending him to remain
neutral : " What have I to do with thee, thou King of
Judah ? I come not against thee this day, but against
the house wherewith I have war : and God hath com
manded me to make haste : forbear thee from meddling
with God who is with me, that He destroy thee not !
Having despatched the message, probably at the moment
of entering the Shephelah, he continued in a northerly
direction, nothing doubting that his warning had met a
friendly reception ; but however low Nineveh had fallen,
Josiah could not feel that he was loosed from the oaths
which bound him to her, and, trusting in the help of
Jahveh, he threw himself resolutely into the struggle.
The Egyptian generals were well acquainted with the
route as far as the farther borders of Philistia, having
passed along it a few years previously, at the time of
the campaign of Psammetichus ; but they had no ex
perience of the country beyond Ashdod, and were solely
dependent for guidance on the information of merchants
or the triumphant records of the old Theban Pharaohs.
These monuments followed the traditional road which had
led their ancestors from Gaza to Megiddo, from Megiddo to
Qodshu, from Qodshu to Carchemish, and they were
reckoning on passing through the valley of the Jordan,
and then that of the Orontes, without encountering any
resistance, when, at the entrance to the gorges of Carmel,
they were met by the advance guard of the Juda3an army.

1 The message of Necho to Josiah is known to us from 2 Chron. xxxv.
20-22.

THE DEATH OP JOSIAH AT MEGIDDO 377

Josiah, not having been warned in time to meet them as
they left the desert, had followed a road parallel to their
line of march, and had taken up his position in advance
of them on the plain of Megiddo, on the very spot where
Thutmosis III. had vanquished the Syrian confederates
nearly ten centuries before. The King of Judah was
defeated and killed in the confusion of the battle, and
the conqueror pushed on northwards without, at that
moment, giving the fate of the scattered Jews a further
thought. 1 He rapidly crossed the plain of the Orontes
by the ancient caravan track, and having reached the
Euphrates, he halted under the walls of Carchemish.
Perhaps he may have heard there of the fall of Nineveh,
and the fear of drawing down upon himself the Medes
or the Babylonians prevented him from crossing the
river and raiding the country of the Balikh, which, from
the force of custom, the royal scribes still persisted in
designating by the disused name of Mitanni. 2 He returned

1 2 Kings xxiii. 29 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxv. 22, 23. It is probably to this
battle that Herodotus alludes when he says that Necho overcame the Syrians
at Magdolos. The identity of Magdolos and Megiddo, accepted by almost
all historians, was disputed by Gutschmid, who sees in the Magdolos of
Herodotus the Migdol of the Syro-Egyptian frontier, and in the engagement
itself, an engagement of Necho with the Assyrians and their Philistine
allies ; also by Th. Reinach, who prefers to identify Magdolos with one of
the Migdols near Ascalon, and considers this combat as fought against the
Assyrian army of occupation. If the information in Herodotus were indeed
borrowed from Hecatseus of Miletus, and by the latter from the inscription
placed by Necho in the temple of Branchidte, it appears to me impossible to
admit that Magdolos does not here represent Megiddo.

The text of 2 Kings xxiii. 29 says positively that Necho was marching
towards the Euphrates. The name Mitanni is found even in Ptolemaic
times.

378 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

southwards, after having collected the usual tributes and
posted a few garrisons at strategic points ; at Biblah he
held a kind of Durbar to receive the homage of the in
dependent Phoanicians 1 and of the old vassals of Assyria,
who, owing to the rapidity of his movements, had not
been able to tender their offerings on his outward march.
The Jews had rescued the body of their king and had
brought it back in his chariot to Jerusalem ; they pro
claimed in his stead, not his eldest son
Eliakim, but the youngest, Shallum, who
adopted the name of Jehoahaz on ascending
the throne. He was a young man, twenty-
three years of age, light and persumptuous of
disposition, opposed to the reform movement,
VICTORIOUS and had doubtless been unwise enough to dis
play his hostile feelings towards the conqueror.
Neclio summoned him to Eiblah, deposed him after a reign
of three months, condemned him to prison, and replaced
him by Eliakim, who changed his name to that of
Jehoiakim "he whom Jahveh exalts; and after laying
Judah under a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and
one of gold, the Egyptian monarch returned to his own
country. 3 Certain indications lead us to believe that he

1 The submission of the Phoenicians to Necho is gathered from a passage
in Berosus, where he says that the Egyptian army beaten at Carchemish
comprised Phoenicians, besides Syrians and Arabs.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph published in Mariette.
This scarab, now in the Gizeh Museum, is the only Egyptian monument
which alludes to the victories of Necho. Above, the king stands between
Nit and Isis ; below, the vanquished are stretched on the ground.

3 2 Kings xxiii. 30-55 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1-4, and for the name of
Shallum, Jcr. xxii. 11.

JEREMIAH S PROPHECY 379

was obliged to undertake other punitive expeditions. The
Philistines, probably deceived by false rumours of his
defeat, revolted against him about the time that he was
engaged in hostilities in Northern Syria, and on receiving
news not only of his safety, but of the victory he had
gained, their alarm was at once aronsed. Jndah forgot
her own sorrows on seeing the peril in which they stood,
and Jeremiah pronounced against them a prophecy full of
menace. " Behold," he cried, "waters rise up but of the
north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall
overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and them
that dwell therein ; and the men shall cry, and all the
inhabitants of the land shall howl ... for the Lord will
spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the Isle of Caphtor.
Baldness is corne upon Gaza ; Ascalon is dumb with terror,
and you, all that are left of the giants, how long will ye
tear your faces in your mourning ? Ascalon was sacked
and then Gaza, 1 and Necho at length was able to re-enter
his domains, doubtless by the bridge of Zalu, following in
this his models, his heroic ancestors of the great Theban

*" [R.V., " Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley :
how long wilt thou cut thyself ?" TR.]

1 Jcr. xlvii., which is usually attributed to a period subsequent to the
defeat at Carchemish or even later ; the title, which alone mentions the
Egyptians, is wanting in the LXX. If we admit that the enemy coming
from the north is the Egyptian and not the Chaldsean, as do most writers,
the only time that danger could have threatened Philistia from the Egyptians
coming from the north, was when Necho, victorious, was returning from his
first campaign. In this case, the Kadytis of Herodotus, which has caused
so much trouble to commentators, would certainly be Gaza, and there would
be no difficulty in explaining how the tradition preserved by the Greek
historian placed the taking of this town after the battle of Megiddo.

380 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

dynasties. He wished thereupon to perpetuate the memory
of the Greeks who had served him so bravely, and as soon
as the division of the spoil had been made, he sent as an
offering to the temple of Apollo at Miletus, the cuirass
which he had worn throughout the campaign.

We can picture the reception which his subjects gave
him, and how the deputations of priests and nobles in
white robes flocked out to meet him with garlands of
flowers in their hands, and with acclamations similar to
those which of old had heralded the return of Seti I. or
Eamses II. National pride, no doubt, was flattered by this
revival of military glory, but other motives than those of
vanity lay at the root of the delight exhibited by the whole
country at the news of the success of the expedition. The
history of the century which was drawing to its close, had
demonstrated more than once how disadvantageous it was
to Egypt to be separated from a great power merely by the
breadth of the isthmus. If Taharqa, instead of awaiting
the attack on the banks of the Nile, had met the Assyrians
at the foot of Carmel, or even before Gaza, it would have
been impossible for Esarhaddon to turn the glorious king
dom of the Pharaohs into an Assyrian province after merely
a few weeks of fighting. The dictates of prudence, more
than those of ambition, rendered, therefore, the conquest
of Syria a necessity, and Necho showed his wisdom in
undertaking it at the moment when the downfall of Nineveh
reduced all risk of opposition to a minimum ; it remained
to be seen whether the conquerors of Sin-shar-ishkun would
tolerate for long the interference of a third robber, and
would consent to share the spoil with these Africans, who,

THE BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH 381

having had none of the trouble, had hastened to secure the
profit. All the Mediterranean dependencies of Assyria,
such as Mesopotamia, Syria, and Judaea, fell naturally
within the sphere of Babylon rather than that of Media,
and, indeed, Cyaxares never troubled himself about them ;
and Nabopolassar, who considered them his own by right,
had for the moment too much in hand to permit of his
reclaiming them. The Aramsans of the Khabur and the
Balikh, the nomads of the Mesopotamian plain, had not
done homage to him, and the country districts were
infested with numerous bands of Cimmerians and Scythians,
who had quite recently pillaged the sacred city of Harran
and violated the temple of the god Sin. 1 Nabopolassar,
who was too old to command his troops in person, probably
entrusted the conduct of them to Nebuchadrezzar, who was
the son he had appointed to succeed him, and who had
also married the Median princess. Three years sufficed
this prince to carry the frontier of the new Chaldaean
empire as far as the Syrian fords of the Euphrates, within
sight of Thapsacus and Carchemish. Harran remained in
the hands of the barbarians, 2 probably on condition of their
paying a tribute, but the district of the Subaru was laid
waste, its cities reduced to ashes, and the Babylonian
suzerainty established on the southern slopes of the Masios.

1 Inscrip. of the Cylinder of Nabonidus mentions the pillage of Harran as
having taken place fifty-four years before the date of its restoration by
Nabonidus. This was begun, as we know, in the third year of that king,
possibly in 554-3. The date of the destruction is, therefore, 608-7, that is
to say, a few months before the destruction of Nineveh.

2 The passage in the Cylinder of Nabonidus shows that the barbarians
remained in possession of the town.

382 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

Having brought these preliminary operations to a successful
issue, Nabopolassar, considering himself protected on the
north and north-east by his friendship with Cyaxares, no
longer hesitated to make an effort to recover the regions
dominated by Egyptian influence, and, if the occasion
presented itself, to reduce to submission the Pharaoh who
was in his eyes merely a rebellious satrap. Nebuchadrezzar
again placed himself at the head of his troops ; Necho,
warned of his projects, hastened to meet him with all the
forces at his disposal, and, owing probably to the resistance
offered by the garrisons which he possessed in the Hittite
fortresses, he had time to continue his march as far as the
Euphrates. The two armies encountered each other at
Carchemish ; the Egyptians were completely defeated in
spite of their bravery and the skilful tactics of their
Greek auxiliaries, and the Asiatic nations, who had once
more begun to rely on Egypt, were obliged to acknowledge
that they were as unequal to the task of overcoming
Chaldaea as they had been of sustaining a struggle with
Assyria. 1 The religious party in Judah, whose hopes had
been disappointed by the victory of Pharaoh at Megiddo,
now rejoiced at his defeat, and when the remains of his
legions made their way back across the Philistine plain,
closely pressed by the enemy, Jeremiah hailed them as
they passed with cutting irony. Two or three brief, vivid
sentences depicting the spirit that had fired them a few

1 Jer. xlvi. 2 ; cf. 2 Kings xxiv. 7, where the editor, without mentioning
the battle of Carchemish, recalls in passing that " the King of Babylon had
taken, from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained
to the King of Egypt."

DEATH OP NEBUCHADREZZAR S FATHER 383

mouths before, and then the picture of their disorderly
flight: " Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near
to battle. Harness the horses ; and get up, ye horsemen,
and stand forth with your helmets ; furbish the spears,
put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen it ?
They are dismayed and turn backward ; and their mighty
ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not
back ; terror is on every side, saith the Lord. Let not the
swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape ; in the north
by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen. . . .
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of
Egypt ; in vain dost thou use many medicines ; there is no
healing for thee. The nations have heard of thy shame,
and the earth is full of thy cry : for the mighty man hath
stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them
together." l Nebuchadrezzar received by the way the
submission of Jehoiakim and of the princes of A_mmon,
Moab, and the Philistines ; 2 he was nearing Pelusium on
his way into Egypt, when a messenger brought him the
news of his father s death. He feared lest a competitor
should dispute his throne perhaps his younger brother,
that Nabu-shum-lishir who had figured at his side at the
dedication of a temple to Marduk. He therefore concluded
an armistice with Necho, by the terms of which he
remained master of the whole of Syria between the
Euphrates and the Wady el-Arish, and then hastily turned

1 Jer. xlvi. 3-6, 11, 12.

The submission of all these peoples is implied by the passage already
cited in 2 Kings xxiv. 7 ; Berosus speaks of the Phoenician, Jewish, and
Syrian prisoners whom Nebuchadrezzar left to his generals, when he resolved
to return to Babylon by the shortest route.

384 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

homewards. But his impatience could not brook the delay
occasioned by the slow march of a large force, nor the
ordinary circuitous route by Carchemish and through
Mesopotamia. He hurried across the Arabian desert,
accompanied by a small escort of light troops, and pre
sented himself unexpectedly at the gates of Babylon.
He found all in order. His Chaldaean ministers had
assumed the direction of affairs, and had reserved the
throne for the rightful heir ; he had only to appear to be
acclaimed and obeyed (B.C. 605).

His reign was long, prosperous, and on the whole
peaceful. The recent changes in Asiatic politics had shut
out the Chaldeans from the majority of the battle-fields
on which the Assyrians had been wont to wage warfare
with the tribes on their eastern and northern frontiers.
We no longer see stirring on the border-land those con
fused masses of tribes and communities of whose
tumultuous life the Ninevite annals make such frequent
record : Elam as an independent state no longer existed,
neither did Ellipi and Namri, nor the Cossaeans, nor
Parsua, nor the Medes with their perpetual divisions,
nor the Urartians and the Mannai in a constant state of
ferment within their mountain territory ; all that remained
of that turbulent world now constituted a single empire,
united under the hegemony of the Medes, and the rule of a
successful conqueror. The greater part of Elam was already
subject to those Achaemenides who called themselves
sovereigns of Anshan as well as of Persia, and whose fief
was dependent on the kingdom of Ecbatana : l it is

1 "The king and the princes of Elam " mentioned in Jer. xxv. 25, xlix.

THE COUNTRIES BORDERING ON THE TIGRIS 385

probable that Chaldasa received as her share of the ancient
Susian territory the low countries of the Uknu and the
Ulai, occupied by the Aramaean tribes of the Puqudu, the
Eutu, and the Gambulu ; l but Susa fell outside her portion,
and was soon transformed into a flourishing Iranian town.
The plains bordering the right bank of the Tigris, from
the Uknu to the Turnat or the Eadanu, which had
belonged to Babylon from the very earliest times, were no
doubt still retained by her ; 2 but the mountain district
which commanded them certainly remained in the hands
of Cyaxares, as well as the greater part of Assyria
proper, and there is every reason to believe that from
the Eadanu northwards the Tigris formed the boundary
between the two allies, as far as the confluence of the
Zab. The entire basin of the Upper Tigris and its
Assyrian colonies, Amidi and Tushkan were now comprised

35-39, and in Ezek, xxxii. 24, 25, in the time of Nebuchadrezzar, are pro
bably the Persian kings of Anshan and their Elamite vassals not only, as
is usually believed, the kings and native princes conquered by Assur-bani-
pal ; the same probably holds good of the Elam which an anonymous prophet
associates with the Medes under Nabonidus, in the destruction of Babylon
(Isa. xxi. 2). The princes of Malamir appear to me to belong to an anterior
epoch.

1 The enumeration given in Ezek. xxiii. 23, " the Babylonians and all
the Chaldseans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa," shows us probably that the
Aramaeans of the Lower Tigris represented by Pekod, as those of the Lower
Euphrates are by the Chaldaeans, belonged to the Babylonian empire in the
time of the prophet. They are also considered as belonging to Babylon in
the passage of an anonymous prophet (Jer. 1. 21), who wrote in the last days
of the Chaldaean empire : " Go up against the land of Merathaim, even
against it and the inhabitants of Pekod." Translators and commentators
have until quite recently mistaken the import of the name Pekdd.

This is what appears to me to follow from the account of the conquest
of Babylon by Cyrus, as related by Herodotus.

VOL. Y11I. 2 C

386 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

in the sphere of Medic influence, and the settlement of the
Scythians at Harran, around one of the most venerated of
the Semitic sanctuaries, shows to what restrictions the new
authority of Chaldsea was subjected, even in the districts
of Mesopotamia, which were formerly among the most
faithful possessions of Nineveh. If these barbarians had
been isolated, they would not long have defied the King
of Babylon, but being akin to the peoples who were
subject to Cyaxares, they probably claimed his pro
tection, and regarded themselves as his liege men; it
was necessary to treat them with consideration, and
tolerate the arrogance of their presence upon the only
convenient road which connected the eastern with the
western provinces of the kingdom. It is therefore evident
that there was no opening on this side for those ever-
recurring struggles in which Assyria had exhausted her
best powers ; one war was alone possible, that with Media,
but it was fraught with such danger that the dictates
of prudence demanded that it should be avoided at all
costs, even should the alliance between the two courts
cease to be cemented by a royal marriage. However
great the confidence which he justly placed in the valour
of his Chaldeans, Nebuchadrezzar could not hide from
himself the fact that for two centuries they had always
been beaten by the Assyrians, and that therefore he
would run too great a risk in provoking hostilities with
an army which had got the better of the conquerors of
his people. Besides this, Cyaxares was fully engaged in
subjecting the region which he had allotted to himself,
and had no special desire to break with his ally. Nothing

BETWEEN THE CASPIAN AND THE BLACK SEA 387

is known of his history during the years which followed
the downfall of Nineveh, but it is not difficult to guess
what were the obstacles he had to surmount, and the
result of the efforts which he made to overcome
them. The country which extends between the Caspian
and the Black Sea the mountain block of Armenia,
the basins of the Araxes and the Kur, the valleys
of the Halys, the Iris, and the Thermodon, and the
forests of the Anti-Taurus and the Ta.urus itself had
been thrown into utter confusion by the Cimmerians and
the Scythians. Nothing remained of the previous order
of things which had so long prevailed there, and the
barbarians who for a century aod a half had destroyed
everything in the country seemed incapable of organis
ing anything in its place. Urartu had shrunk within
its ancient limits around Ararat, and it is not known
who ruled her ; the civilisation of Argistis and Menuas
had almost disappeared with the dynasty which had
opposed the power of Assyria, and the people, who had
never been much impregnated by it, soon fell back into
their native rude habits of life. Confused masses of
European barbarians were stirring in Etiaus and the
regions of the Araxes, seeking a country in which to
settle themselves, and did not succeed in establishing
themselves firmly till a much later period in the district
of Sakasene, to which was attached the name of one
of their tribes. 1 Such of the Mushku and the Tabal as
had not perished had takeD refuge in the north, among

1 Strabo states that Armenia and the maritime regions of Cappadocia
suffered greatly from the invasion of the Scythians.

388 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

the mountains bordering the Black Sea, where they were
ere long known to the Greeks as the Moschi and the
Tibarenians. The remains of the Cimmerian hordes had
taken their place in Cappadocia, and the Phrygian popu
lation which had followed in their wake had spread
themselves over the basin of the Upper Halys and over
the ancient Milidu, which before long took from them
the name of Armenia. 1 All these elements constituted
a seething, struggling, restless mass of people, actuated
by no plan or method, and subject merely to the
caprice of its chiefs ; it was, indeed, the " seething
cauldron of which the Hebrew prophets had had a
vision, which at times overflowed over the neighbouring
nations, and at others was consumed within and wasted
itself in fruitless ebullition. 2

It took Cyaxares years to achieve his conquests; he
finally succeeded, however, in reducing the various elements
to subjection Urartians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Chalda?!,
and the industrious tribes of the Chalybes and the White
Syrians and, always victorious, appeared at last on the
right bank of the Halys ; but having reached it, he found
himself face to face with foes of quite a different calibre
from those with whom he had hitherto to deal. Lydia
had increased both in wealth and in vigour since the
days when her king Ardys informed his ally Assur-bani-
pal that he had avenged the death of his father and
driven the Cimmerians from the valley of the Meander.

1 The Phrygian origin of the Armenians is pointed out by Herodotus and
by Eudoxius.

2 Jer. i. 13.

CYAXARES IN URARTU AND ASIA MINOR 389

He had by so doing averted all immediate danger; but
as long as the principal horde remained unexterminated,
another invasion was always to be feared ; besides which,
the barbarian inroad, although of short duration, had
wrought such havoc in the country that no native power
in Asia Minor appeared, nor in reality was, able to make
the effort needful to destroy them. Their king Dugdamis,
it will be remembered, met his death in Cilicia at the
hands of the Assyrians about the year 640, and Kobos,
his successor, was defeated and killed by the Scythians
under Madyes about 633. The repeated repulses they had
suffered had the effect of quickly relieving Lydia, Phrygia,
and the remaining states of the ^Egean and the Black
Sea from their inroads ; the Milesians wrested Sinope
from them about 630, and the few bands left behind when
the main body set out for the countries of the Euphrates
were so harried and decimated by the people over whom
they had terrorised for nearly a century, that they had
soon no refuge except round the fortress of Antandros,
in the mountains of the Troad. Most of the kingdoms
whose downfall they had caused never recovered from
their reverses; but Lydia, which had not laid down its
arms since the death of Gyges, became possessed by
degrees of the whole of their territory ; Phrygia proper
came back to her in the general redistribution, and
with it most of the countries which had been under
the rule of the dynasty of Midas, from the mountains
of Lycia to the shores of the Black Sea. The transfer
was effected, apparently, with very slight opposition and
with little loss of time, since in the four or five years

390 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

which followed the death of Kobos, Ardys had risen in
the estimation of the Greeks to the position enjoyed by
Gyges; and when, in 628, Aristomenes, the hero of the
Messenian wars, arrived at Ehodes, it is said that he
contemplated proceeding from thence, first to Sardes and

* - ."1* ^j* -*" > WT -^J 1 "" "^ J

0&

~

V - > : vT <"<< *:&;*?*

A VIEW IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MESSOGIS. 1

then to Ecbatana, for the purpose of gaining the adhe
rence of Lydia and Media to his cause. Death put an
end to his projects, but he would not for a moment
have entertained them had not Ardys been at that time
at the head of a renowned and flourishing kingdom.
The renewal of international commerce followed closely
on the re-establishment of peace, and even if the long

1 Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Rayet and Thomas,

RENEWAL OP INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE

391

period of Scythian invasion, followed by the destruction of
Nineveh, rendered the overland route less available for
regular traffic than before, at all events relations between
the inhabitants of the Euphrates valley and those of the
^Egean littoral were resumed to such good purpose that

, , *>.>-**. .-*;.

THE SITE UF PKIENK. 1

before long several fresh marts were opened in Lydia.
Kyme and Ephesus put the region of the Messogis and
the Tmolus into communication with the sea, but the
lower valleys of the Hermos and the Mseander were
closed by the existence of Greek colonies at Smyrna,
Clazomena3, Colophon, Priene, and Miletus all hostile to
the Meramada3 which it would be necessary to overcome
if these countries were to enjoy the prosperity shared

1 Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Rayet and Thomas.

392 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

by other parts of the kingdom ; hence the principal effort
made by the Lydians was either directly to annex these
towns, or to impose such treaties on them as would
make them their dependencies. Ardys seized Priene
towards 620, and after having thus established himself
on the northern shore of the Latinic Gulf, 1 he proceeded
to besiege Miletus in 616, at the very close of his
career. Hostilities were wearily prolonged all through
the reign of Sadyattes (615-610), and down to the
sixth year of Alyattes. 2 The position of Miletus was too
strong to permit of its being carried by a coup de main ;
besides which, the Lydians were unwilling to destroy at
one blow a town whose colonies, skilfully planted at
the seaports from the coasts of the Black Sea to those
of Egypt, would one day furnish them with so many
outlets for their industrial products. Their method of
attacking it resolved itself into a series of exhausting
raids. " Every year, as soon as the fruit crops and the
harvests began to ripen, Alyattes set out at the head of
his troops, whom he caused to march and encamp to
the sound of instruments. Having arrived in the Milesian
territory, he completely destroyed the crops and the
orchards, and then again withdrew." In these expeditions

1 The well-known story that Priene was saved under Alyattes by a
stratagem of the philosopher Bias is merely a fable, of which several other
examples are found. It would not be possible to conclude from it, as Grote
did, that Ardys rule over the town was but ephemeral.

2 The periods of duration assigned here to the reigns of these princes are
those of Eusebius that is to say, 15 years for Croesus, 37 for Alyattes, 5
for Sadyattes, 37 for Ardys; Julius Africanus gives 15 for Sadyattes and
38 for Ardys, while Herodotus suggests 14 for Croesus, 57 for Alyattes, 12
for Sadyattes, and 59 for Ardys.

ALYATTES IN THE MILESIAN TERRITORY 393

he was careful to avoid any excesses which would have
made the injury inflicted appear irretrievable ; his troops
were forbidden to destroy dwelling-houses or buildings
dedicated to the gods ; indeed, on one occasion, when
the conflagration which consumed the lands accidentally
spread to the temple of Athena near Assesos, he rebuilt
two temples for the goddess at his own expense. The
Milesians sustained the struggle courageously, until two
reverses at Limeneion and in the plain of the Maeander
at length induced them to make terms. Their tyrant,
Thrasybulus, acting on the advice of the Delphic Apollo
and by the mediation of Periander of Corinth, concluded
a treaty with Alyattes in which the two princes, de
claring themselves the guest and the ally one of the
other, very probably conceded extensive commercial
privileges to one another both by land and sea (604). 1
Alyattes rewarded the oracle by the gift of a magnificent
bowl, the work of Glaucus of Chios, which continued to
be shown to travellers of the Koman period as one of
the most remarkable curiosities of Delphi. Alyattes con
tinued his expeditions against the other Greek colonies,
but directed them prudently and leisurely, so as not to
alarm his European friends, and provoke the formation
against himself of a coalition of the Hellenic com
munities shattered over the isles or along the littoral
of the ^Bgean. We know that towards the end of his

1 Thrasybulus stratagem is said to have taken place at Priene by
Diogenes Laertes and by Polysenus. The war begins under Ardys, lasts for
five years under Sadyattes, instead of the six years which Herodotus
attributes to it, and five years under Alyattes.

394 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

reign he recovered Colophon, which had been previously
acquired by Gyges, but had regained its independence
during the Cimmerian crisis ; 1 he razed Smyrna to the
ground, and forced its inhabitants to occupy unfortified
towns, where his suzerainty could not be disputed ; 2 he
half devastated Clazomena?, whose citizens saved it by
a despairing effort, and he renewed the ancient alliances
with Ephesus, Kyme, and the cities of the region of the
Caicus and the Hellespont, 3 though it is impossible to
attribute an accurate date to each of these particular
events. Most of them had already taken place or were
still proceeding when the irruption of the Medes across
the Halys obliged him to concentrate all his energies
on the eastern portion of his kingdom.

The current tradition in Lydia of a century later
attributed the conflict of the two peoples to a romantic

1 Polysenus tells the story of the trick by which Alyattes, after he had
treated with the people of Colophon, destroyed their cavalry and seized on
their town. The fact that a treaty was made seems to be confirmed by a
fragment of Phylarchus, and the surrender of the town to the Lydians by a
fragment of Xenophanes, quoted in Athenseus. Schubert does not seem to
believe that the town was taken by Alyattes ; I have adopted the opinion
of Radet on this point.

2 Herodotus and Nicolas of Damascus confine themselves to relating the
capture of the city ; adds that the Lydians compelled the inhabitants to
dwell in unfortified towns. Schubert thinks that the passage in Strabo
refers, not to the time of Alyattes, but to a subsequent event in the fifth
century ; he relies for this opinion on a fragment of Pindar, which represents
Smyrna as still flourishing in his time. But, as Busolt has pointed out, the
intention of the text of Pindar is to represent the state of the city at about
the time of Homer s birth, and not in the fifth century.

3 The peace between Ephesus and Lydia must have been troubled for a
little while in the reign of Sadyattes, but it was confirmed under Alyattes
by the marriage of Melas II. with one of the king s daughters.

THE WAR BETWEEN ALYATTES AND CYAXARES 395

cause. It related that Cyaxares had bestowed his favour
on the bands of Scythians who had become his mercenaries
on the death of Madyes, and that he had entrusted to them
the children of some of the noblest Medic families, that
they might train them to hunt and also teach them the
use of the bow. One day, on their returning from the
chase without any game, Cyaxares reproached them for
their want of skill in such angry and insulting terms, that
they resolved on immediate revenge. They cut one of
the children in pieces, which they dressed after the same
manner as that in which they were accustomed to prepare
the game they had killed, and served up the dish to the
king; then, while he was feasting upon it with his
courtiers, they fled in haste and took refuge with Alyattes.
The latter welcomed them, and refused to send them back
to Cyaxares ; hence the outbreak of hostilities. It is, of
course, possible that the emigration of a nomad horde may
have been the cause of the war, 1 but graver reasons than
this had set the two nations at variance. The hardworking
inhabitants of the valleys of the Iris and the Halys were
still possessed of considerable riches, in spite of the losses
they had suffered from the avaricious Cimmerians, aud
their chief towns, Comana, Pteria and Teiria, continued
to enjoy prosperity under the rule of their priest-kings.
Pteria particularly had developed in the course of the
century, thanks to her favourable situation, which had

1 Grote has collected a certain number of examples in later times to
show that the journeying of a nomad horde from one state to another may
provoke wars, and he concludes therefrom that at least the basis of Herodotus
account may be considered as true.

390 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

enabled her to offer a secure refuge to the neighbouring
population during the late disasters. The town itself was
crowded into a confined plain, on the left bank of a torrent
which flowed into the Halys, and the city walls may still
be clearly traced upon the soil the outline of the houses,
the silos, cisterns, and rock-cut staircases are still visible

THE KUI> T S OF PTEK1A.

in places, besides the remains of a palace built of enormous
blocks of almost rough-hewn limestone. The town was
defended by wide ramparts, and also by two fortresses
perched upon enormous masses of rock, while a few
thousand yards to the east of the city, on the right bank
of the torrent, three converging ravines concealed the
sanctuary of one of those mysterious oracles whose fame
attracted worshippers from far and wide during the annual

1 Drawn by Boudier, from Charles Texier.

THE SANCTUARY OF PTERIA

397

-

.

THE ENTRANCE TO THE SANCTUARY OF PTERIA. 1

fairs. The bas-reliefs which decorate them belong to that
semi-barbarous art which we have already met with in the

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Chantre.

398 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

monuments attributed to the Khati, near the Orontes and
Euphrates, on both slopes of the Amanus, in Cilicia, and
in the ravines of the Taurus. Long processions of priests
and votaries defile before figures of the gods and goddesses
standing erect upon their sacred animals ; in one scene,
a tall goddess, a Cybele or an Anaitis, leans affectionately

ONE OF THE PROCESSIONS IN THE RAVINE OF PTERIA. 1

upon her chosen lover, and seems to draw him with her
towards an image with a lion s body and the head of a
youth. 2 Pteria and its surrounding hills formed a kind of
natural fortress which overlooked the whole bend of the

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Chantre.

2 These bas-reliefs seem to me to have been executed at about the time
with which we are dealing, or perhaps a few years later in any case, before
the Persian conquest.

THE BATTLE OF THE HALYS 399

Halys; it constituted, in the hands of the Lydians, an
outpost which effectually protected their possessions in
Phrygia and Paphlagonia against an attack from the East ;
in the hands of the Medes it would be a dominant position
which would counteract the defensive features of the Halys,
and from it they might penetrate into the heart of Asia
Minor without encountering any serious obstacles. The
struggle between the two sovereigns was not so unequal
as might at first appear. No doubt the army of Alyattes
was inferior in numbers, but the bravery of its component
forces and the ability of its leaders compensated for its
numerical inferiority, and Cyaxares had no troop to be
compared with the Carian lancers, with the hoplites of
Ionia, or with the heavy Mseonian cavalry. During six
years the two armies met again and again fate, sometimes
favouring one and sometimes the other and were about
to try their fortune once more, after several indecisive
engagements, when an eclipse of the sun suspended
operations (585). The Iranian peoples would fight only
in full daylight, and their adversaries, although warned,
so it is said, by the Milesian philosopher Thales of the
phenomenon about to take place in the heavens, were
perhaps not completely reassured as to its significance,
and the two hosts accordingly separated without coming
to blows. 1 Nebuchadrezzar had followed, not without some
misgivings, the vicissitudes of the campaign, and his

1 This eclipse was identified at one time with that of Sept. 30, 610, at
another with that of May 28, 585. The latter of these two dates appears
to me to be the correct one, and is the only one which agrees with wh at we
know of the general history of the sixth century.

400 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

anxiety was shared by the independent princes of Asia
Minor, who were allies of the Lydians ; he and they alike
awaited with dread a decisive action, which, by crushing
one of the belligerents beyond hope of recovery, would
leave the onlookers at the mercy of the victor in the full
flush of his success. Tradition relates that Syennesis of
Cilicia and the Babylonian Nabonidus had taken advantage
of the alarm produced by the eclipse to negotiate an armis
tice, and that they were soon successful in bringing the
rival powers to an agreement. 1 The Halys remained the
recognised frontier of the two kingdoms, but the Lydians
probably obtained advantages for their commerce, which
they regarded as compensatory for the abandonment of
their claim to the district of Pteria. To strengthen the
alliance, it- was agreed that Alyattes should give his
daughter Aryenis in marriage to Ishtuvigu, or, as the
Greeks called him, Astyages, the son of Cyaxares. 2
According to the custom of the times, the two contracting
parties, after taking the vow of fidelity, sealed the compact
by pricking each other s arms and sucking the few drops of
blood which oozed from the puncture. 3 Cyaxares died in

1 The name Labynetos given by Herodotus is a transcript of Nabonidus,
but cannot here designate the Babylonian king of that name, for the
latter reigned more than thirty years after the peace was concluded
between the Lydians and the Medes. If Herodotus has nob made the
mistake of putting Labynetos for Nebuchadrezzar, we may admit that
this Labynetos was a prince of the royal family, or simply a general who
was commanding the Chaldaean auxiliaries of Cyaxares.

The form Ishtuvigu is given us by the Chaldsean documents. Its
exact transcript was Astuigas, Astyigas, according to Ctesias ; in fact,
this coincides so remarkably with the Babylonian mode of spelling, that we
may believe that it faithfully reproduces the original pronunciation.

3 Many ancient authors have spoken of this war, or at least of the

THE DEATH OF CYAXARES 401

the following year (584), full of days and renown, and was
at once succeeded by Astyages. Few princes could boast
of having had such a successful career as his, even in that
century of unprecedented fortunes and boundless ambitions.
Inheriting a disorganised army, proclaimed king in the
midst of mourning, on the morrow of a defeat in which
the fate of his kingdom had hung in the balance, he
succeeded within a quarter of a century in overthrowing
his enemies and substituting his supremacy for theirs
throughout the whole of Western Asia. At his accession
Media had occupied only a small portion of the Iranian
table-land; at his death, the Median empire extended to
the banks of the Halys. It is now not difficult to
understand why Nebuchadrezzar abstained from all expedi
tions in the regions of the Taurus, as well as in those of
the Upper Tigris. He would inevitably have come into
contact with the allies of the Lydians, perchance with the
Lydians themselves, or with the Medes, as the case might
be ; and he would have been drawn on to take an active
part in their dangerous quarrels, from which, after all, he
could not hope to reap any personal advantage. In reality,

eclipse which brought it to an end. Several of them place the conclusion of
peace not in the reign of Cyaxares, but in that of Astyages Cicero,
Solinus, and the Armenian Eusebius and their view has been adopted
by some modern historians. The two versions of the account can be
reconciled by saying that Astyages was commanding the Median army
instead of his father, who was too old to do so, but such an explanation
is unnecessary, and Cyaxares, though over seventy, might still have
had sufficient vigour to wage war. The substitution of Astyages for
Cyaxares by the authors of Roman times was probably effected with
the object of making the date of the eclipse agree with a different system
of chronology from that followed by Herodotus.

VOL. VIII, 2 D

402 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

there was one field of action only open to him, and that
was Southern Syria, with Egypt in her rear. He found
himself, at this extreme limit of his dominions, in a political
situation almost identical with that of his Assyrian pre
decessors, and consequently more or less under the
obligation of repeating their policy. The Saites, like the
Ethiopians before them, could enjoy no assured sense of
security in the Delta, when they knew that they had a
great military state as their nearest neighbour on the other
side of the isthmus ; they felt with reason that the thirty
leagues of desert which separated Pelusium from Gaza was
an insufficient protection from invasion, and they desired
to have between themselves and their adversary a tract
of country sufficiently extensive to ward off the first blows
in the case of hostilities. If such a buffer territory could
be composed of feudal provinces or tributary states,
Egyptian pride would be flattered, while at the same time
the security of the kingdom would be increased, and indeed
the victorious progress of Necho had for the moment
changed their most ambitious dreams into realities. Driven
back into the Nile valley after the battle of Carchemish,
their pretensions had immediately shrunk within more
modest limits ; their aspirations were now confined to
gaining the confidence of the few surviving states which
had preserved some sort of independence in spite of the
Assyrian conquest, to detaching them from Chaldaean
interests and making them into a protecting zone against
the ambition of a new Esarhaddon. To this work Necho
applied himself as soon as Nebuchadrezzar had left him in
order to hasten back to Babylon. The Egyptian monarch

NECHO REORGANISES THE FLEET AND ARMY 403

belonged to a persevering race, who were never cast down
by reverses, and had not once allowed themselves to be
discouraged during the whole of the century in which they
had laboured to secure the crown for themselves ; his
defeat had not lessened his tenacity, nor, it would seem,
his certainty of final success. Besides organising his
Egyptian and Libyan troops, he enrolled a still larger
number of Hellenic mercenaries, correctly anticipating that
the restless spirits of the Phoenicians and Jews would soon
furnish him with an opportunity of distinguishing himself
upon the scene of action.

It was perhaps at this juncture that he decided to
strengthen his position by the co-operation of a fleet. The
superiority of the Chaldaean battalions had been so clearly
manifested, that he could scarcely hope for a decisive
victory if he persisted in seeking it on land ; but if he
could succeed in securing the command of the sea, his
galleys, by continually cruising along the Syrian coast, and
conveying troops, provisions, arms, and money to the
Phoenician towns, would so successfully foster and maintain
a spirit of rebellion, that the Chaldeans would not dare to
venture into Egypt until they had dealt with this source of
danger in their rear. He therefore set to work to increase
the number of his war -vessels on the Bed Sea, but more
especially on the Mediterranean, and as he had drawn upon
Greece for his troops, he now applied to her for ship
builders. 1 The trireme, which had been invented by either

1 Herodotus tells us that in his time the ruins of the docks which
Necho had made for the building of his triremes could still be seen on
the shore of the Red Sea as well as on that of the Mediterranean. He

404 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

the Samian or Corinthian naval constructors, had as yet
been little used, and possibly Herodotus is attributing an
event of his own time to this earlier period when he affirms
that Necho filled a dockyard with a whole fleet of these
vessels ; he possessed, at any rate, a considerable number
of them, and along with them other vessels of various build,
in which the blunt stem and curved poop of the Greeks
were combined with the square-cabined barque of the

Egyptians. At the same time,
in order to transport the
squadron from one sea to
another when, occasion de
manded, he endeavoured to
reopen the ancient canal of

AN EGYPTIAN VESSEL OF THE SAITE

PERIOD. 1

j

up ever since the last years of

the XX th dynasty. He improved its course and widened
it so as to permit of two triremes sailing abreast or easily
clearing each other in passing. The canal started from the
Pelusiac branch of the Nile, not far from Patumos, and
skirted the foot of the Arabian hills from west to east ; it
then plunged into the Wady Tumilat, and finally entered
the head of the bay which now forms the Lake of Ismailia.
The narrow channel by which this sheet of water was
anciently connected with the Gulf of Suez was probably
obstructed in places, and required clearing out at several
points, if not along its entire extent. A later tradition

seems also to say that the building of the fleet was anterior to the first
Syrian expedition.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph sent by G. Benedite.

XECHO S VARIOUS ENTERPRISES

405

states that after having lost 100,000 men in attempting this
task, the king abandoned the project on the advice of an
oracle, a god having been supposed to have predicted to
him that he was working for the barbarians. 1 Another of
Necho s enterprises excited the admiration of his con-

THE ANCIENT HEAD OF THE RED SEA, NOW THE NORTIIEBN EXTREMITJT OF

THE BITTER LAKES. 2

temporaries, and remained for ever in the memory of the
people. The Carthaginians had discovered on the ocean
coast of Libya, a country rich in gold, ivory, precious
woods, pepper, and spices, but their political jealousy
prevented other nations from following in their wake in the

1 The figures, 100,000 men, are evidently exaggerated, for in a similar
undertaking, the digging of the Mahmudiyeh canal, Mehemet-Ali lost only
10,000 men, though the work was greater.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken from the railway
between Ismailia and Suez, on the eastern shore of the lake.

106 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

interests of trade. The Egyptians possibly may have

undertaken to dispute their monopoly, or the Phoenicians

may have desired to reach their colony by a less frequented

highway than the Mediterranean. The merchants of the

Said and the Delta had never entirely lost touch with the

people dwelling on the shores of the Bed Sea, and though

the royal fleets no longer pursued their course down it on

their way to Punt as in the days of Hatshopsltu and

Eamses III., private individuals ventured from time to

time to open trade communications with the ancient

" Ladders of Incense." Necho despatched the Phoenician

captains of his fleet in search of new lands, and they started

from the neighbourhood of Suez, probably accompanied by

native pilots accustomed to navigate in those waters. The

undertaking, fraught with difficulty even in the last

century, was, indeed, a formidable one for the small vessels

of the Saite period. They sailed south for months with

the east to the left of them, and on their right the

continent which seemed to extend indefinitely before them.

Towards the autumn they disembarked on some convenient

shore, sowed the wheat with which they were provided, and

waited till the crop was ripe ; having reaped the harvest,

they again took to the sea. Any accurate remembrance of

what they saw was soon effaced; they could merely

recollect that, having reached a certain point, they

observed with astonishment that the sun appeared to have

reversed its course, and now rose on their right hand. This

meant that they had turned the southern extremity of

Africa and were unconsciously sailing northwards. In the

third year they passed through the pillars of Hercules and

VOYAGE OF THE EGYPTIAN FLEET ROUND AFRICA 407

reached Egypt in safety. The very limited knowledge of
navigation possessed by the mariners of that day rendered
this voyage fruitless ; the dangerous route thus opened up
to commerce remained unused, and its discovery was
remembered only as a curious feat devoid of any practical
use. 1 In order to obtain any practical results from the
arduous voyage, it would have been necessary for Egypt to
devote a considerable part of its resources to the making of
such expeditions, whereas the country preferred to con
centrate all its energies on its Tyrian policy. Necho
certainly possessed the sympathies of the Tyrians, who had
transferred their traditional hatred of the Assyrians to the
Chaldasans. He could also count with equal certainty on
the support of a considerable party in Moab, Ammon, and
Edom, as well as among the Nabata3ans and the Arabs of
Kedar ; but the key of the whole position lay with Judah-
that ally without whom none of Necho s other partisans
would venture to declare openly against their master. The
death of Josiah had dealt a fatal blow to the hopes of the
prophets, and even long after the event they could not
recall it without lamenting the fate of this king after their
own heart. " And like unto him," exclaims their

1 The Greek writers after Herodotus denied the possibility of such
a voyage, and they thought that it could not be decided whether Africa
was entirely surrounded by water, and that certainly no traveller had ever
journeyed above 5000 stadia beyond the entrance to the Red Sea. Modern
writers are divided on the point, some denying and others maintaining the
authenticity of the account. The observation made by the navigators
of the apparent change in the course of the sun, which Herodotus has
recorded, and which/ neither he nor his authorities understood, seems to me
to be so weighty an argument for its authenticity, that it is impossible
to reject the tradition until we have more decided grounds for so doing.

408 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

chronicler, " was there no king before him, that turned to
the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with
all his might, according to all the law of Moses ; neither
after him arose there any like him." l The events which
followed his violent death the deposition of Jehoahaz, the
establishment and fall of the Egyptian supremacy, the
proclamation of the Chaldaean suzerainty, the degradation
of the king and the misery of the people brought about by
the tribute exacted from them by their foreign masters,
all these revolutions which had succeeded each other
without break or respite had all but ruined the belief in the
efficacy of the reform due to Hilkiah s discovery, and
preached by Jeremiah and his followers. The people saw
in these calamities the vengeance of Jahveh against the
presumptuous faction which had overthrown His various
sanctuaries and had attempted to confine His worship to a
single temple ; they therefore restored the banished
attractions, and set themselves to sacrifice to strange gods
with greater zest than ever.

A like crisis occurred and like party divisions had
broken out around Jehoiakim similar to those at the
court of Ahaz and Hezekiah a century earlier. The popu
lace, the soldiery, and most of the court officials, in short,
all who adhered to the old popular form of religion or
were attracted to strange devotions, hoped to rid them
selves of the Chaldseans by earthly means, and since
Necho declared himself an implacable enemy of their foe,
their principal aim was to come to terms with Egypt.
Jeremiah, on the contrary, and those who remained

1 2 Kings xxiii. 25.

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE TWO FACTIONS 409

faithful to the teaching of the prophets, saw in all that was
passing around them cogent reasons for rejecting worldly
wisdom and advice, and for yielding themselves unre
servedly to the Divine will in bowing before the Chaldean
of whom Jahveh made use, as of the Assyrian of old, to
chastise the sins of Judah. The struggle between the two
factions constantly disturbed the public peace, and it
needed little to cause the preaching of the prophets to
degenerate into an incitement to revolt. On a feast-
day which occurred in the early months of Jehoiakim s
reign, Jeremiah took up his station on the pavement of the
temple and loudly apostrophised the crowd of worshippers.
" Thus saith the Lord: If ye will not hearken unto Me,
to walk in My law, which I have set before you, to hearken
to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I send
unto you, even rising up early and sending them, but ye
have not hearkened ; then will I make this house like
Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations
of the earth." Such a speech, boldly addressed to an
audience the majority of whom were already moved by
hostile feelings, brought their animosity to a climax ; the
officiating priests, the prophets, and the pilgrims gathered
round Jeremiah, crying, "Thou shalt surely die." The
people thronged into the temple, the princes of Judah
went up to the king s house and to the house of the Lord,
and sat in council in the entry of the new gate. They
decreed that Jeremiah, having spoken in the name of
the Lord, did not merit death, and some of their number,
recalling the precedent of Micaiah the Morasthite, who
in his time had predicted the ruin of Jerusalem, added,

410 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

" Did Hezekiah King of Judah and all Judah put him at
all to death ? ; Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, one of those
who had helped in restoring the law, took the prophet
under his protection and prevented the crowd from injur
ing him, but some others were not able to escape the
popular fury. The prophet Uriah of Kirjath-jearim, who
unweariedly prophesied against the city and country after
the manner of Jeremiah, fled to Egypt, but in vain;
Jehoiakim despatched Elnathan, the son of Achbor, " and
certain men with him," who brought him back to Judah,
" slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into
the graves of the common people." 1 If popular feeling
had reached such a pitch before the battle of Carchemish,
to what height must it have risen when the news of
Nebuchadrezzar s victory had given the death-blow to
the hopes of the Egyptian faction ! Jeremiah believed the
moment ripe for forcibly arresting the popular imagination
while it was swayed by the panic of anticipated invasion.
He dictated to his disciple Baruch the prophecies he had
pronounced since the appearance of the Scythians under
Josiah, and on the day of the solemn fast proclaimed
throughout Judah during the winter of the fifth year of
the reign, a few months after the defeat of the Egyptians,
he caused the writing to be read to the assembled people
at the entrjr of the new gate. 2 Micaiah, the son of

1 Jer. xxvi., where the scene takes place at the beginning of Jehoiakim s
reign, i.e. under the Egyptian domination.

2 The date given in Jer. xxxvi. 9 makes the year begin in spring, since
the ninth month occurs in winter ; this date belongs, therefore, to the later
recensions of the text. It is nevertheless probably authentic, representing
the exact equivalent of the original date according to the old calendar.

JEHOIAKIM DESTROYS THE PROPHETIC ROLL 411

Gemariah, was among those who listened, and noting that
the audience were moved hy the denunciations which re
vived the memory of their recent misfortunes, he hastened
to inform the ministers sitting in council within the palace
of what was passing. They at once sent for Baruch, and
begged him to repeat to them what he had read. They
were so much alarmed at its recital, that they advised him
to hide himself in company with Jeremiah, while they
informed the king of the matter. Jehoiakim was sitting
in a chamber with a brazier burning before him on account
of the severe cold : scarcely had they read three or four
pages before him when his anger broke forth; he seized
the roll, slashed it with the scribe s penknife, and threw
the fragments into the fire. Jeremiah recomposed the text
from memory, and inserted in it a malediction against the
king. " Thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, King
of Judah : He shall have none to sit upon the throne of
David : and his dead body shall be cast out in the day
to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will
punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity :
and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that
I have pronounced against them ; but they hearkened
not." The Eg}^ptian tendencies evinced at court, at first

1 Jer. xxxvL Attempts have been made to reconstruct the contents of
Jeremiah s roll, and most of the authors who have dealt with this
subject think that the roll contained the greater part of the fragments
which, in the book of the prophet, occupy chaps, i. 4-19, ii., iii. 1-5,
19-25, iv.-vi., vii., viii., ix. 1-21, x. 17-25, xi., xii. 1-6, xvii. 19-27, xviii.,
xix. 1-13, which it must be admitted have not in every case been preserved
in their original form, but have been abridged or rearranged after the

412 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

discreetly veiled, were now accentuated to such a degree
that Nebuchadrezzar became alarmed, and came iu person
to Jerusalem in the year 601. His presence frustrated the
intrigues of Pharaoh. Jehoiakim was reduced to order for
a time, but three years later he revolted afresh at the
instigation of Necho, and this time the Chaldaean satraps,
opened hostilities in earnest. They assembled their troops,
which were reinforced by Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite
contingents, and laid siege to Jerusalem. 1 Jehoiakim, left
to himself, resisted with such determination that Nebu
chadrezzar was obliged to bring up his Chaldaean forces
to assist in the attack. Judah trembled with fear at the
mere description which her prophet Habakkuk gave of this
fierce and sturdy people, "which march through the
breadth of the earth to possess dwelling-places which are
not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful : their judgment
and their diguity proceed from themselves. Their horses

exile. Other chapters evidently belong to the years previous to the
fifth year of Jehoiakim, as well as part of the prophecies against the
barbarians, but they could not have been included in the original roll,
as the latter would then have been too long to have been read three
times in one day.

1 2 Kings xxiv. 1-4. The passage is not easy to be understood as
it stands, and it has been differently interpreted by historians. Some
have supposed that it refers to events immediately following the battle
of Carchemish, and that Jehoiakim defended Jerusalem against Nebuchad
rezzar in 605. Others think that, after the battle of Carchemish, Jehoiakim
took advantage of Nebuchadrezzar s being obliged to return at once
to Babylon, and would not recognise the authority of the Chaldseans ;
that Nebuchadrezzar returned later, towards 601, and took Jerusalem,
and that it is to this second war that allusion is made in the Book of Kings.
It is more simple to consider that which occurred about 600 as a first
attempt at rebellion which was punished lightly by the Chaldseans.

THE REVOLT OF JEHOIAKIM 413

also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than
the evening wolves ; and their horsemen spread them
selves ; yea, their horsemen come from far ; they fly as
an eagle that hasteneth to devour. They come all of them
for violence ; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind,
and they gather captives as the sand. Yea, he scofTeth
at kings, and princes are a derision unto him : he derideth
every stronghold : for he heapeth up dust and taketh it.
Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over
the guilty, even he whose might is his god." Nebu
chadrezzar s army must have presented a spectacle as
strange as did that of Necho. It contained, besides its
nucleus of Chaldsean and Babylonian infantry, squadrons
of Scythian and Median cavalry, whose cruelty it was, no
doubt, that had alarmed the prophet, and certainly bands
of Greek hoplites, for the poet Alca3us had had a brother,
Antimenidas by name, in the Chaldaean monarch s service.
Jehoiakim died before the enemy appeared beneath the
walls of Jerusalem, and was at once succeeded by his son
Jeconiah,* a youth of eighteen years, who assumed the
name of Jehoiachin. 2 The new king continued the struggle
at first courageously, but the advent of Nebuchadrezzar so
clearly convinced hirn of the futility of the defence, that
he suddenly decided to lay down his arms. He came forth
from the city with his mother Nehushta, the officers of

1 Hal. i. 6-11.

; [Jehoiachin is called Coniah in Jer. xxii. 24 and xxiv. 1, and Jeconiah
in 1 Chron. iii. 16. TR.]

2 2 Kings xxiv. 5-10 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6-9, where the writer says
that Nebuchadrezzar bound Jehoiakim " in fetters, to carry him to
Babylon."

414 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

his house, his ministers, and his eunuchs, and prostrated
himself at the feet of his suzerain. The Chaldaean monarch
was not inclined to proceed to extremities ; he therefore
exiled to Babylon Jehoiachin and the whole of his seditious
court who had so ill-advised the young king, the best of
his officers, and the most skilful artisans, in all 3023
persons, but the priests and the bulk of the people re
mained at Jerusalem. The conqueror appointed Mattaniah,
the youngest son of Josiah, to be their ruler, who, on
succeeding to the crown, changed his name, after the
example of his predecessors, adopting that of Zedekiah.
Jehoiachin had reigned exactly three months over his
besieged city (596). 1

The Egyptians made no attempt to save their ally,
but if they felt themselves not in a condition to defy the
Chaldseans on Syrian territory, the Chaldaeans on their
side feared to carry hostilities into the heart of the Delta.
Necho died two years after the disaster at Jerusalem,
without having been called to account by, or having found
an opportunity of further annoying, his rival, and his son
Psammetichus II. succeeded peacefully to the throne. 2
He was a youth at this time, 3 and his father s ministers

1 2 Kings xxiv. 11-17 ; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10.

The length of Necho s reign is fixed at sixteen years by Herodotus,
and at six or at nine years by the various abbreviators of Manetho. The
contemporaneous monuments have confirmed the testimony of Herodotus on
this point as against that of Manetho, and the stelae of the Florentine
Museum, of the Leyden Museum, and of the Louvre have furnished certain
proof that Necho died in the sixteenth year, after fifteen and a half years reign.

3 His sarcophagus, discovered in 1883, and now preserved in the
Gizeh Museum, is of such small dimensions that it can have been used only
for a youth.

PSAMMETICHUS II. 415

conducted the affairs of State on his behalf, and it was
they who directed one of his early campaigns, if not the
very first, against Ethiopia. 1 They organised a small army
for him composed of Egyptians, Greeks, and Asiatic
mercenaries, which, while the king was taking up his
residence at Elephantine, was borne up the Nile in a fleet
of large vessels. 2 It probably went as far south as the
northern point of the second cataract, and not having
encountered any Ethiopian force, 3 it retraced its course
and came to anchor at Abu-Simbel. The officers in

1 The graffiti of Abu-Simbel have been most frequently attributed to
Psammetichus I., and until recently I had thought it possible to maintain
this opinion. A. von Gutschmid was the first to restore them to
Psammetichus II., and his opinion has gained ground since Wiedemann s
vigorous defence of it. The lalysian mercenary s graffito contains the
Greek translation of the current Egyptian phrase " when his Majesty
came on his first military expedition into this country," which seems to
point to no very early date in a reign for a first campaign. Moreover,
one of the generals in command of the expedition is a Psammetichus,
son of Theocles, that is, a Greek with an Egyptian name. A considerable
lapse of time must have taken place since Psammetichus first dealings
with the Greeks, for otherwise the person named after the king would
not have been of sufficiently mature age to be put at the head of a body
of troops.

2 The chief graffito at Abu-Simbel says, in fact, that the king came
to Elephantine, and that only the troops accompanying the General
Psammetichus, the son of Theocles, went beyond Kerkis. It was probably
during his stay at Elephantine, while awaiting the return of the expedition,
that Psammetichus II. had the inscriptions containing his cartouches
engraved upon the rocks of Bigga, Abaton, Philse, and Konosso, or among
the ruins of Elephantine and of Philre.

3 The Greek inscription says above Kerkis. Wiedemann has corrected
Kerlcis into Kortis, the Korte of the first cataract, but the reading
Kerkis is too well established for there to be any reason for change.
The simplest explanation is to acknowledge that the inscription refers to
a place situated a few miles above Abu-Simbel, towards Wady-Halfa.

416 THE MEDES AXD THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

command, after having admired the rock-cut chapel of
Ramses II., left in it a memento of their visit in a fine
inscription cut on the right leg of one of the colossi. This
inscription informs us that " King Psammatikhos having
come to Elephantine, the people who were with Psam
matikhos, son of Theocles, wrote this. They ascended
above Kerkis, to where the river ceases; Potasimto
commanded the foreigners, Amasis the Egyptians. At
the same time also wrote Arkhon, son of Amoibikhos,
and Peleqos, son of Ulamos." Following the example
of their officers, the soldiers also wrote their names here
and there, each in his own language lonians, Rhodians,
Carians, Phoenicians, and perhaps even Jews ; e.g. Elesibios
of Teos, Pabis of Colophon, Telephos of lalysos, Abdsakon
son of Petiehve, Gerhekal son of Hallurn. The whole of
this part of the country, brought to ruin in the gradual
dismemberment of Greater Egypt, could not have differed
much from the Nubia of to-day ; there were the same
narrow strips of cultivation along the river banks, gigantic
temples half buried by their own ruins, scattered towns
and villages, and everywhere the yellow sand creeping
insensibly down towards the Nile. The northern part of
this province remained in the hands of the Saite Pharaohs,
and the districts situated further south just beyond Abu-
Simbel formed at that period a sort of neutral ground
between their domain and that of the Pharaohs of Napata,
While all this was going on, Syria continued to plot in
secret, and the faction which sought security in a foreign
alliance was endeavouring to shake off the depression
caused by the reverses of Jehoiakim and his son ; and

ZEDEKIAH OF JUDAH

417

the tide of popular feeling setting in the direction of Egypt
became so strong, that even Zedekiah, the creature of
Nebuchadrezzar, was unable to stem it. The prophets
who were inimical to religious reform, persisted in their

THE FAQADE OF THE GREAT
TEMFLE OF ABU-SEVIBEL. 1

belief that the humiliation
of the country was merely temporary.
Those of them who still remained in
Jerusalem repeated at every turn, " Ye shall not serve the
King of Babylon . . , the vessels of the Lord s house shall
now shortly be brought again from Babylon." 2 Jeremiah
endeavoured to counteract the effect of their words, but
in vain; the people, instead of listening to the prophet,
waxed wroth with him, and gave themselves more and
more recklessly up to their former sins. Incense was

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Daniel H^ron.

2 Jer. xxvii. 9, 16.

VOL. VIII. 2 E

418 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

burnt every morning on the roofs of the houses and at
the corners of the streets in honour of Baal, lamentations
for Tammuz again rent the air at the season of his
festival ; 1 the temple was invaded by uncircumcised priests
and their idols, 2 and the king permitted the priests of
Moloch to raise their pyres in the valley of Hinnom. 3 The
exiled Jews, surrounded on all sides by heathen peoples,
presented a no less grievous spectacle than their brethren
at Jerusalem ; some openly renounced the God of their
fathers, 4 others worshipped their chosen idols in secret, 5
while those who did not actually become traitors to their
faith, would only listen to such prophets as promised them
a speedy revenge Ahab, Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, and
Shemaiah. There was one man, however, who appeared
in their midst, a priest, brought up from his youth in
the temple and imbued with the ideas of reform Ezekiel,
son of Buzi, whose words might have brought them to
a more just appreciation of their position, had they not
drowned his voice by their clamour ; alarmed at their
threats, he refrained from speech in public, but gathered
round him a few faithful adherents at his house in Tel-
Ablb, where the spirit of the Lord first came upon him
in their presence about the year 592. 6 This little band
of exiles was in constant communication with the mother-
country, and the echo of the religious quarrels and of the

1 EzcL viii. 14, 15. [Of. vol. iv. p. 260. TE.]

2 Jer. xxxii. 34 ; EzeJc. viii. 7-13, 16.

3 Jer. xxxii. 35 ; EzeJc. xvi. 21, xxiii. 37.

4 Jer. xxix. 21-32. G EzeJc. xiv. 1-8.

6 EzeJc. i. 1, 2. We see him receiving the elders in his house in
haps. viii. 1, xiv. 1, xx. 1, et. seq.

GRAVE EVENTS AT HAND 419

controversies provoked between the various factions by
the events of the political world, was promptly borne to
them by merchants, travelling scribes, or the king s legates
who were sent regularly to Babylon with the tribute. 1
They learnt, about the year 590, that grave events were
at hand, and that the moment had come when Judab,
recovering at length from her trials, should once more
occupy, in the sight of the sun, that place for which Jahveh
had destined her. The kings of Moab, Ammon, Edom,
Tyre, and Sidon had sent envoys to Jerusalem, and there,
probably at the dictation of Egypt, they had agreed on what
measures to take to stir up a general insurrection against
Chaldaea. 2 The report of their resolutions had revived
the courage of the national party, and of its prophets ;
Hananiah, son of Azzur, had gone through the city
announcing the good news to all. 3 " Thus speaketh
the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken
the yoke of the King of Babylon. Within two full years
will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the
Lord s house . . . and Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim,
King of Judah, with all the captives of Judah that went
to Babylon ! But Jeremiah had made wooden yokes
and had sent them to the confederate princes, threatening

1 Jer. xxix. 3 gives the names of two of these transmitters of the
tribute Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah,
to whom Jeremiah had entrusted a message for those of the captivit} r .

2 Jer. xxvii. 1-3. The statement at the beginning of this chapter :
In the beginning of the reign of Jelioiakim, contains a copyist s error ;
the reading should be : In the beginning of the reign of Zedekialt (see
ver. 12).

3 Jer. xxvii., xxviii.

420 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

them with divine punishment if they did not how their
necks to Nebuchadrezzar; the prophet himself bore one
on his own neck, and showed himself in the streets on
all occasions thus accoutred, as a living emblem of the
slavery in which Jahveh permitted His people to remain
for their spiritual good. Hananiah, meeting the prophet
by chance, wrested the yoke from him and broke it,
exclaiming, " Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I break
the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, within
two full years from off the neck of all the nations." The
mirth of the bystanders was roused, but on the morrow
Jeremiah appeared with a yoke of iron, which Jahveh
had put "upon the neck of all the nations, that they
may serve Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon." Moreover,
to destroy in the minds of the exiled Jews any hope of
speedy deliverance, he wrote to them: "Let not your
prophets that be in the midst of you, and your diviners,
deceive you, neither hearken ye to your dreams which
ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto
you in My name : I have not sent them, saith the Lord."
The prophet exhorted them to resign themselves to their
fate, at all events for the time, that the unity of their
nation might be preserved until the time when it might
indeed please Jahveh to restore it : " Build ye houses
and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat the fruit
of them : take ye wives and beget sons and daughters,
and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to
husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters ; and
multiply ye there and be not diminished. And seek the

1 Jer. xxix. 8, 9.

THE REIGN OF PSAMMETICHUS II. 421

peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried
away captive, and pray uuto the Lord for it : for in the
peace thereof shall ye have peace." l

Psammetichus II. died in 589, 2 and his reign, though
short, was distinguished by the activity shown in rebuild
ing and embellishing the temples. His name is met with
everywhere on the banks of the Nile at Karnak, where he
completed the decoration of the great columns of Taharqa,
at Abydos, at Heliopolis, and on the monuments that have
come from that town, such as the obelisk set up in the
Campus Martins at Eome. The personal influence of the
young sovereign did not count for much in the zeal thus
displayed ; but the impulse that had been growing during
three or four generations, since the time of the expulsion
of the Assyrians, now began to have its full effect. Egypt,
well armed, well governed by able ministers, and more and
more closely bound to Greece by both mercantile and
friendly ties, had risen to a very high position in the
estimation of its contemporaries ; the inhabitants of Elis
had deferred to her decision in the question whether they
should take part in the Olympic games in which they were
the judges, and following the advice she had given on the
matter, they had excluded their own citizens from the
sports so as to avoid the least suspicion of partiality in

1 Jer. xxix. 5-7.

; Herodotus reckoned the length of the reign of Psammetichus II.
at six years, in which he agrees with the Syncellus, while the abbreviators
of Manetho fix it at seventeen years. The results given by the reading
of a stele of the Louvre enable us to settle that the figure 6 is to be
preferred to the other, and to reckon the length of the reign at five
years and a half.

422 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

the distribution of the prizes. 1 The new king, probably the
brother of the late Pharaoh, had his prenomen of Uahibri
from his grandfather Psarnmetichus I., and it was this
sovereign that the Greeks called indifferently Uaphres and
Apries. 2 He was young, amhitious, greedy of fame and
military glory, and longed to use the weapon that his
predecessors had for some fifteen years past been carefully
whetting; his emissaries, arriving at Jerusalem at the

moment when the
popular excite
ment was at its
height, had little
difficulty in over
coming Zede-
kiah s scruples.
Edom, Moah, and
the Philistines,
who had all taken
their share in the conferences of the rebel party, hesitated
at the last moment, and refused to sever their relations
with Babylon. Tyre and the Ammonites alone persisted in

1 Diodorus Siculus has transferred the anecdote to Amasis, and the
decision given is elsewhere attributed to one of the seven sages. The story
is a popular romance, of which Herodotus gives the version current among
the Greeks in Egypt.

2 According to Herodotus, Apries was the son of Psammis. The size
of the sarcophagus of Psammetichus II., suitable only for a youth, makes
this filiation improbable. Psammetichus, who came to the throne when
he was hardly more than a child, could have left behind him only
children of tender age, and Apries appears from the outset as a prince of
full mental and physical development.

3 Drawn by Boudier, from the bronze statuette in the Louvre Museum.

APRIES, FROM A SPHINX IX THE LOUVRE. 3

THE REVOLT OF TYRE AXD JUDAH

423

their determination, and allied themselves with Egypt on
the same terms as Judah. Nebuchadrezzar, thus defied by

STELE OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 1

three enemies, was at a loss to decide upon which to make

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Pognon. The figures
have been carefully defaced with the hammer, but the outline of the
king can still be discerned on the left; he seizes the rampant lion by
the right paw, and while it raises its left paw against him, he plunges his
dagger into the body of the beast.

421 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

his first attack. Ezekiel, whose place of exile put him in a
favourable position for learning what was passing, shows
him to us as he " stood at the parting of the way, at the
head of the two ways, to use divination : he shook the
arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in
the liver." ! Judah formed as it were the bridge by which
the Egyptians could safely enter Syria, and if Nebucha
drezzar could succeed in occupying it before their arrival,
he could at once break up the coalition into three separate
parts incapable of rejoining one another Ammon in the
desert to the east, Tyre and Sidon on the seaboard, and
Pharaoh beyond his isthmus to the south-west. He there
fore established himself in a central position at Eiblah on
the Orontes, from whence he could observe the progress
of the operations, and hasten with his reserve force to a
threatened point in the case of unforeseen difficulties ;
having done this, he despatched the two divisions of his
army against his two principal adversaries. One of these
divisions crossed the Lebanon, seized its fortresses, and,
leaving a record of its victories on the rocks of the Wady
Brissa, made its way southwards along the coast to
blockade Tyre. 2 The other force bore down upon Zedekiah,

1 EzcJc. xxi. 21.

2 The account of this Phoenician campaign is contained in one of the
inscriptions discovered and commented on by Pognon. Winckler, the
only one to my knowledge who has tried to give a precise chronological
position to the events recorded in the inscription, places them at the very
beginning of the reign, after the victory of Carchemish, about the time
when Nebuchadrezzar heard that his father had just died. I think that
this date is not justified by the study of the inscription, for the king
speaks therein of the great works that he had accomplished, the restoration
of the temples, the rebuilding of the walls of Babylon, and the digging

THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM 425

and made war upon him ruthlessly. It burnt the vil
lages and unwalled towns, gave the rural districts over
as a prey to the Philistines and the Edomites, surrounded
the two fortresses of Lachish and Azekah, and only after
completely exhausting the provinces, appeared before the
walls of the capital. Jerusalem was closely beset when the
news reached the Chaldsoans that Apries was approaching
Gaza ; Zedekiah, in his distress, appealed to him for help,
and the promised succour at length came upon the scene. 1
The Chaldeans at once raised the siege with the object of
arresting the advancing enemy, and the popular party,
reckoning already on a Chaldean defeat, gave way to
insolent rejoicing over the prophets of evil. Jeremiah,
however, had no hope of final success. " Deceive not
yourselves, saying, The Chaldasans shall surely depart from
us ; for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten
the whole army of the Chaldaeans that fight against you,
and there remained but wounded men among them, yet
should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this
city with fire." 2 What actually took place is not known ;
according to one account, Apries accepted battle and was

of canals, all of which take us to the middle or the end of his reign. We
are therefore left to choose between one of two dates, namely, that
of 590-587, during the Jewish war, and that from the King s thirty-
seventh year to 568 B.C., during the war against Amasis which will
be treated below. I have chosen the first, because of Nebuchadrezzar s
long sojourn at Riblah, which gave him sufficient time for the engraving
of the stelse on Lebanon : the bas-reliefs of Wady Brissa could have
been cut before the taking of Jerusalem, for no allusion to the war against
the Jews is found in them. The enemy mentioned in the opening lines
is perhaps Apries, whose fleet was scouring the Phoenician coasts.
1 EzeTc. xvii. 15. - Jer. xxxvii. 5-10.

426 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

defeated ; according to another, he refused to be drawn
into an engagement, and returned haughtily to Egypt. 1
His fleet probably made some effective raiding on the
Phoenician coast. It is easy to believe that the sight of the
Chaldean camp inspired him with prudence, and that he
thought twice before compromising the effects of his naval
campaign and risking the loss of his fine army the only
one which Egypt possessed in a conflict in which his own
safety was not directly concerned. Nebuchadrezzar, on his
side, was not anxious to pursue so strongly equipped an
adversary too hotly, and deeming himself fortunate in
having escaped the ordeal of a trial of strength with
him, he- returned to his position before the walls of
Jerusalem.

The city receiving no further succour, its fall was
merely a question of time, and resistance served merely
to irritate the besiegers. The Jews nevertheless con
tinued to defend it with the heroic obstinacy and, at the
same time, with the frenzied discord of which they have
so often shown themselves capable. During the respite
which the diversion caused by Apries afforded them,
Jeremiah had attempted to flee from Jerusalem and seek
refuge in Benjamin, to which tribe he belonged. Arrested
at the city gate on the pretext of treason, he was un
mercifully beaten, thrown into prison, and the king, who
had begun to believe in him, did not venture to deliver

1 That, at least, is what Jeremiah seems to say (xxxvii. 7) : " Behold,
Pharaoh s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt
into their own land." There is no hint here of defeat or even of a
battle.

JEREMIAH IN PRISON

427

him. He was confined in the court of the palace, which
served as a gaol, and allowed a ration of a loaf of bread
for his daily food. 1 The courtyard was a public place,
to which all comers had access who desired to speak to
the prisoners, and even here the prophet did not cease
to preach and exhort the people to repentance : "He
that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence ; but he that goeth forth

fe>fc.-

-*r \

^?V d^B?-- V **

1 RISOXERS UNDER TORTURE HAVING THEIR TONGUES TORN OUT. 2

to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be unto
him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus saith the Lord,
This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army
of the King of Babylon, and he shall take it." The
princes and officers of the king, however, complained
to Zedekiah of him : " Let this man, we pray thee, be
put to death ; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of
the men of war, and the hands of all the people in

1 Jer. xxxvii. 11-21.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the British
Museum.

428 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

speaking such words." Given up to his accusers and
plunged in a muddy cistern, he escaped by the con
nivance of a eunuch of the royal household, only to
renew his denunciations with greater force than ever.
The king sent for him secretly and asked his advice, but

could draw from him nothing but
threats : "If thou wilt go forth unto
the King of Babylon s princes, then
thy soul shall live, and this city shall

not be burned with
fire, and thou shalt
live and thine
house : but if thou
wilt not go forth
to the King of
Babylon s princes,
then shall this city
be given into the
hand of the Chal-
dasans, and they
shall burn it with
fire, and thou shalt

A KING PUTTING OUT THE EYES OF A PRISONER.

not escape out of

their hand." 2 Zedekiah would have asked no better
than to follow his advice, but he had gone too far to
draw back now. To the miseries of war and sickness

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from several engravings in Botta. The
mutilated remains of several bas-reliefs have been combined so as to
form a tolerably correct scene ; the prisoners have a ring passed through
their lips, and the king holds them by a cord attached to it.

2 Jcr. xxxviii.

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM 429

the horrors of famine were added, but the determination
of the besieged was unshaken ; bread was failing, and yet
they would not hear of surrender. 1 At length, after a
year and a half of sufferings heroically borne, in the
eleventh year of Zedekiah, the eleventh month, and the
fourth day of the month, a portion of the city wall fell
before the attacks of the battering-rams, and the Chaldsean
army entered by the breach. Zedekiah assembled his re
maining soldiers, and took counsel as to the possibility of
cutting his way through the enemy to beyond the Jordan ;
escaping by night through the gateway opposite the Pool
of Siloam, he was taken prisoner near Jericho, and carried
off to Eiblah, where Nebuchadrezzar was awaiting with im
patience the result of the operations. The Chaldasans
were accustomed to torture their prisoners in the fashion
we frequently see represented on the monuments of
Nineveh, and whenever an unexpected stroke of good
fortune brings to light any decorative bas-relief from their
palaces, we shall see represented on it the impaling
stake, rebels being flayed alive, and chiefs having their
tongues torn out. Nebuchadrezzar, whose patience was
exhausted, caused the sons of Zedekiah to be slain in
the presence of their father, together with all the
prisoners of noble birth, and then, having put out his
eyes, sent the king of Babylon loaded with chains. As
for the city which had so long defied his wrath, he
gave it over to Nebuzaradan, one of the great officers
of the crown, with orders to demolish it and give it
up systematically to the flames. The temple was

1 Jer. xxxviii. 2, 9, 24-27, and 2 Kings xxv. 3.

430 THE MEDES AND THE SECOXD CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

despoiled of its precious wall-coverings, the pillars and
brazen ornaments of the time of Solomon which still re
mained were broken up, and the pieces carried off to
ChaldaBa in sacks, the masonry was overthrown and the
blocks of stone rolled down the hill into the ravine of the
Kedron. The survivors among the garrison, the priests,
scribes, and members of the upper classes, were sent off
into exile, but the mortality during the siege had been
so great that the convoy barely numbered eight hundred
and thirty-two persons. Some of the poorer population
were allowed to remain in the environs, and the fields
and vineyards of the exiles were divided among them. 1
Having accomplished the work of destruction, the Chal-
dseans retired, leaving the government in the hands of
Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, 2 a friend of Jeremiah. Gedaliah
established himself at Mizpah, where he endeavoured to
gather around him the remnant of the nation, and fugitives
poured in from Moab, Ammon, and Edom. It seemed

1 2 Kings xxv. 4-21, in Jer. lii. 6-27, 29; cf. Jer. xxxix. 2-10, and
2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-20. The following is the table of the kings of Judah
from the death of Solomon to the destruction of Jerusalem :

I. REHOBOAM.
II. ABIJAH.

III. ASA.

IV. JEHOSHAPIIAT.
V. JEHORAM.

VI. AHAZIAH.

VII. ( ATHALIAH.

VIII. JOASH.
IX. AMAZIAH.
X. UZZIAH (AZARIAH).
XI. JOTHAM.
XII. AHAZ.

XIII. HEZEKIAH.

I

XIV. MANASSEH.

XV. AMON.

XVI. JOSIAH.
I I

XVII. JEHOAHAZ.

XVIII. JEHOIAKIM.

XIX. JEHOIACHIN.

XX. ZEDEKIAH.

2 2 Kings xxv. 22 ; Jer. xl. 5-7.

THE LAST THROES OF JUDAH 433

that a Jewish principality was about to rise again from
the ruins of the kingdom. Jeremiah was its accredited
counsellor, but his influence could not establish harmony
among these turbulent spirits, still smarting from their
recent misfortunes. 1 The captains of the bands which
had been roaming over the country after the fall of
Jerusalem refused, moreover, to act in concert with
Gedaliah, and one of them, Ishmael by name, who was
of the royal blood, assassinated him, but, being attacked
in Gibeon by Johanan, the son of Kareah, was forced
to escape almost alone and take refuge with the Ammon
ites. 2 These acts of violence aroused the vigilance of
the Chaldaeans ; Johanan feared reprisals, and retired into
Egypt, taking with him Jeremiah, Baruch, and the bulk
of the people. 3 Apries gave the refugees a welcome, and
assigned them certain villages near to his military colony
at Daphne, whence they soon spread into the neighbour
ing nomes as far as Migdol, Memphis, and even as far
as the Thebaid. 4 Even after all these catastrophes
Judah s woes were not yet at an end. In 581, the few
remaining Jews in Palestine allied themselves with the
Moabites and made a last wild effort for independence;
a final defeat, followed by a final exile, brought them to

1 For the manner in which Jeremiah was separated from the rest of
the captives, set at liberty and sent back to Gedaliah, see Jer. xxxix. 11-18,
xl. 1-6.

2 2 Kings xxv. 23-25, and Jer. xl. 7-16, xli. 1-15, where these events
are recorded at length.

3 2 Kings xxv. 26 ; Jer. xli. 16-18, xlii., xliii. 1-7.

4 Jer. xliv. 1, where the word of the Lord is spoken to "all the
Jews . . . which dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes (Daphnae), and at
Noph (corr. MopJi, Memphis), and in the country of Pathros."

VOL. VIII. 2 F

434 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

irretrievable ruin. 1 The earlier captives had entertained
no hope of advantage from these despairing efforts, and
Ezekiel from afar condemned them without pity : " They
that inherit those waste places in the land of Israel
speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the
land : but we are many ; the land is given us for in
heritance. ... Ye lift up your eyes unto your idols and
shed blood : and shall ye possess the land ? Ye stand
upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile
every one his neighbour s wife : and shall ye possess the
land ? . . . Thus saith the Lord God : As I live, surely
they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword,
and him that is in the open field will I give to the
beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the strong
holds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence."
The first act of the revolution foreseen by the prophets
was over ; the day of the Lord, so persistently announced
by them, had at length come, and it had seen not
only the sack of Jerusalem, but the destruction of the
earthly kingdom of Judah. Many of the survivors, re
fusing still to acknowledge the justice of the chastise
ment, persisted in throwing the blame of the disaster
on the reformers of the old worship, and saw no hope
of salvation except in their idolatrous practices. " As

1 Josephus, following Berosus, speaks of a war against the Moabites and
the Ammonites, followed by the conquest of Egypt in the twenty-third
year of Nebuchadrezzar. To this must be added a Jewish revolt if we are
to connect with these events the mention of the third captivity, carried
out in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar by Nebuzaradan (Jer.
Hi. 30).

2 Ezek. xxxiii. 23-27.

THE SUBMISSION OF TYRE 435

for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the
name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee.
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone
forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen
of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her,
as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings -and
our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets
of Jerusalem : for then had we plenty of victuals, and
were well and saw no evil. But since we left off to
burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out
drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and
have been consumed by the sword and by the famine." l

There still remained to these misguided Jews one
consolation which they shared in common with the
prophets the certainty of seeing the hereditary foes of
Israel involved in the common overthrow : Ammon had
been already severely chastised ; Tyre, cut off from the
neighbouring mainland, seemed on the point of succumb
ing, and the turn of Egypt must surely soon arrive in which
she would have to expiate in bitter sufferings the wrongs
her evil counsels had brought upon Jerusalem. Their
anticipated joy, however, of witnessing such chastisements
was not realised. Tyre defied for thirteen years the
blockade of Nebuchadrezzar, and when the city at length
decided to capitulate, it was on condition that its king,
Ethbaal III., should continue to reign under the almost
nominal suzerainty of the Chaldseans (574 B.C.). 2 Egypt

1 Jer. xliv. 16-18.

The majority of Christian writers have imagined, contrary to the
testimony of the Phoenician annals, that the island of Tyre was taken

436 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

continued not only to preserve her independence, but
seemed to increase in prosperity in proportion to the
intensity of the hatred which she had stirred up against
her. Apries set about repairing the monuments and em
bellishing the temples : he erected throughout the country

stelae, tables of offerings, statues
and obelisks, some of which,
though of small size, like that
which adorns the Piazza della
Minerva at Eome,* erected so
incongruously on the back of a
modern elephant, are unequalled
for purity of form and delicacy
of cutting. The high pitch of
artistic excellence to which the
schools of the reign of Psam-
metichus II. had attained was
maintained at the same exalted
level. If the granite sphinxes 1
and bronze lions of this period

lack somewhat in grace of form, it must be acknowledged
that they display greater refinement and elegance in the

by Nebuchadrezzar ; they say that the Chaldasans united the island to
the mainland by a causeway similar to that constructed subsequently by
Alexander. It is worthy of notice that a local tradition, still existing
in the eleventh century of our era, asserted that the besiegers were not
successful in their enterprise.

[One of the two obelisks of the Campus Martius, on which site the
Church of S. Maria Sopra Minerva was built. TR.]

1 Above the summary of the contents of the present chapter, will be
found one of these sphinxes which was discovered in Rome.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving in Mariette.

BROXZE LIOX OF BOHBAIlV

APRIES ON THE PHOENICIAN COASTS 437

technique of carving or moulding than had yet been
attained. While engaged in these works at home, Apries
was not unobser
vant of the revolu
tions occurring in
Asia, upon which
he maintained a
constant watch, and
in the years which
followed the capitu
lation of Tyre, he
found the oppor
tunity, so long
looked for, of enter
ing once more upon
the scene. The
Phoenician navy
had suffered much
during the lengthy
blockade of their
country, and had
become inferior to
the Egyptian, now
well organised by
thelonians: Apries

therefore took the TIIE SMALL OBELISK IX THE PIAZZA BELLA MFXERVA

~, . AT ROME. 1

onensive by sea,

and made a direct descent on the Phoenician coasts.

Nebuchadrezzar opposed him with the forces of the recently

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

438 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

subjugated Tyrians, and the latter, having cooled in their
attachment to Egypt owing fco the special favour shown by
the Pharaoh to their rivals the Hellenes, summoned their
Cypriote vassals to assist them in repelling the attack.
The Egyptians dispersed the combined fleets, and taking
possession of Sidon, gave it up to pillage. The other
maritime cities surrendered of their own accord, 1 including
Gebal, which received an Egyptian garrison, and where the
officers of Pharaoh founded a temple to the goddess whom
they identified with the Egyptian Hathor. The object
at which Necho and Psammetichus II. had aimed for
fifteen years was thus attained by Apries at one fortunate
blow, and he could legitimately entitle himself " more
fortunate than all the kings his predecessors," and
imagine, in his pride, that " the gods themselves were
unable to injure him." The gods, however, did not allow
him long to enjoy the fruits of his victory. Greeks had
often visited Libya since the time when Egypt had been
thrown open to the trade of the ^Egean. Their sailors had
discovered that the most convenient course thither was to
sail straight to Crete, and then to traverse the sea between
this island and the headlands of the Libyan plateau ; here
they fell in with a strong current setting towards the east,
which carried them quickly and easily as far as Eakotis
and Canopus, along the Marmarican shore. In these
voyages they learned to appreciate the value of the

1 The war of Apries against the Phoenicians cannot have taken place
before the capitulation of Tyre in 574 B.C., because the Tyrians took
part in it by order of Nebuchadrezzar, and on the other hand it cannot
be put later than 569 B.C., the date of the revolt of Amasis ; it must
therefore be assigned to about 571 B.C.

THE FOUNDING OF CYRENE 439

country ; and about 631 B.C. some Dorians of Thera, who
had set out to seek for a new home at the bidding of the
Delphic oracle, landed in the small desert island of Plataea,
where they built a strongly fortified settlement. Their
leader, Batfcos, 1 soon crossed over to the mainland, where,
having reached the high plateau, he built the city of
Gyrene on the borders of an extremely fertile region,
watered by abundant springs. The tribes of the Labu, who
had fought so valiantly against the Pharaohs of old, still
formed a kind of loose confederation, and their territory
stretched across the deserts from the Egyptian frontier
to the shores of the Syrtes. The chief of this confedera
tion assumed the title of king, as in the days of Minephtah
or of Eamses III. 2 The most civilised of these tribes were
those which now dwelt nearest to the coast : first the
Adyrmakhides, who were settled beyond Marea, and had
been semi-Egyptianised by constant intercourse with the
inhabitants of the Delta ; then the Giligammes, who dwelt
between the port of Plynus and the island of Aphrodisias ;
and beyond these, again, the Asbystes, famed for their skill
in chariot-driving, the Cabales, and the Auschises. The
oases of the hinterland were in the hands of the Nasamones
and of the Mashauasha, whom the Greeks called Maxyes.

Herodotus seems to have been ignorant of the real name of the
founder of Gyrene, which has been preserved for us by Pindar, by
Callimachus, by the spurious Heraclides of Pontus, and by the chronologists
of the Christian epoch. Herodotus says that jBftttos signifies Icing in
the language of Libya.

The description given by Herodotus of these Libyan tribes agrees
with the slight amount of information furnished by the Egyptian
monuments for the thirteenth century B.C.

440 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

One of the revolutions so frequent among the desert tribes
had compelled the latter to remove from their home near
the Nile valley, to a district far to the west, on the banks
of the river Triton. There they had settled down in a
permanent fashion, dwelling in houses of stone, and giving
themselves up to the cultivation of the soil. They
continued, however, to preserve in their new life some of
their ancient customs, such as that of painting their bodies

THE OASIS OF AMON AND THE SI IUKG OF THE SUN. 1

with vermilion, and of shaving off the hair from their heads,
with the exception of one lock which hung over the right
ear. The Theban Pharaohs had formerly placed garrisons
in the most important oases, and had consecrated temples
there to their god Amon. One of these sanctuaries, built
close to an intermittent spring, which gave forth alter
nately hot and cold water, had risen to great eminence,
and the oracle of these Ammonians was a centre of
pilgrimage from far and near. The first Libyans who came
into contact with the Greeks, the Asbystes and the
Giligammes, received the new-comers kindly, giving them

1 Drawn by Boudier, from Minutoli.

m

o

O ^

- g

-1 Q

THE WEALTH OF GYRENE

443

s^MSw^s: ^s^^m

LIBYA

in.the Vl^Cent B.C,

their daughters in marriage ; from the fusion of the two
races thus brought about sprang, first under Battos and
then under his son Arkesilas I., an industrious and valiant
race. The main part of their revenues was derived from
commerce in silphium and woollen goods, and even the
kings themselves did not
deem it beneath their
dignity to preside in
person at the weighing
of the crop, and the stor
ing of the trusses in their
magazines. The rapid
increase in the wealth of
the city having shortly brought about a breach in the
friendly relations hitherto maintained between it and its
neighbours, Battos the Fortunate, the son of Arkesilas I.,
sent for colonists from Greece : numbers answered to his
call, on the faith of a second oracular prediction, and in

order to provide them with the necessary
land. Battos did not hesitate to dispossess
his native allies. The latter appealed to
Adikran, king of the confederacy, and this
prince, persuaded that this irregular militia
would not be able to withstand the charge
of the hoplites, thereupon applied in his
turn to Apries for assistance.

There was much tempting spoil to be had in Gyrene,
and Apries was fully aware of the fact, from the accounts
of the Libyans and the Greeks. His covetousness must

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the cast of a coin of Gyrene.

THE SILPHIUM
PLANT. 1

444 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

have been aroused at the prospect of such rich booty, and
perhaps he would have thought of appropriating it sooner,
had he not been deterred from the attempt by his know
ledge of the superiority of the Greek fleets, and of the

-

WEIGHING SILPHIUM IX PRESENCE OF KING ARKESILAS. 1

dangers attendant on a long and painful march over an
almost desert country through disaffected tribes. Now
that he could rely on the support of the Libyans, he
hesitated no longer to run these risks. Deeming it

^ ! Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of the original in the
Coin Room in the Bibliotheque Rationale at Paris. The king here
represented is Arkesilas II. the Bad.

DEFEAT AT IRASA AND THE FALL OF APRIES 445

imprudent, with good reason, to employ his mercenary
troops against their own compatriots, Apries mobilised for
his encounter with Battos an army exclusively recruited
from among his native reserves. The troops set out full of
confidence in themselves and of disdain for the enemy,
delighted moreover at an opportunity for at length con
vincing their kings of their error in preferring barbarian
to native forces. But the engagement brought to nought
all their boastings. The Egyptians were defeated in the
first encounter near Irasa, hard by the fountain of Theste,
near the spot where the high plateaus of Gyrene proper
terminate in the low cliffs of Marmarica : and the troops
suffered so severely during the subsequent retreat that
only a small remnant of the army regained in safety the
frontier of the Delta. 1 This unexpected reverse was the
occasion of the outbreak of a revolution which had been
in preparation for years. The emigration to Ethiopia of
some contingents of the military class had temporarily
weakened the factions hostile to foreign influence; these
factions had felt themselves powerless under the rule of
Psammetichus L, and had bowed to his will, prepared all the
while to reassert themselves when they felt strong enough
to do so successfully. The reorganisation of the native army
furnished them at once with the means of insurrection,
of which they had temporarily been deprived. Although

1 The interpretation I have given to the sentiments of the Egyptian
army follows clearly enough from the observation of Herodotus, that
"the Egyptians, having never experienced themselves the power of the
Greeks, had felt for them nothing but contempt." The site of Irasa and the
fountain of Theste has been fixed with much probability in the fertile
district watered still by the fountain of Ersen, Erazem, or Erasan.

446 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

Pharaoh had lavished privileges on the Herinotybies
and Calasiries, she had not removed the causes for discon
tent which had little by little alienated the good will of the
Mashauasha : to do so would have rendered necessary the
disbanding of the Ionian guard, the object of their jealousy,
and to take this step neither he nor his successors could
submit themselves. The hatred of these mercenaries, and
the irritation against the sovereigns who employed them,
grew fiercer from reign to reign, and now wanted nothing
but a pretext to break forth openly : such a pretext was
furnished by the defeat at Irasa. When the fugitives
arrived at the entrenched camp of Marea, exasperated by
their defeat, and alleging doubtless that it was due to
treachery, they found others who affected to share their
belief that Pharaoh had despatched his Egyptian troops
against Gyrene with the view of consigning to certain
death those whose loyalty to him was suspected, and it
was not difficult to stir up the disaffected soldiers to open
revolt. It was not the first time that a military tumult
had threatened the sovereignty of Apries. Some time
previous to this, in an opposite quarter of the Nile valley,
the troops stationed at Elephantine, composed partly of
Egyptians, partly of Asiatic and Greek mercenaries
possibly the same who had fought in the Ethiopian cam
paign under Psammetichus II. had risen in rebellion
owing to some neglect in the payment of their wages :
having devastated the Thebaid, they had marched straight
across the desert to the port of Shashirlt, in the hope of
there seizing ships to enable them to reach the havens
of Idumaea or Nabataea. The governor of Elephantine,

ELEVATION OF AMASIS 447

Nsihor, had at first held them back with specious promises ;
but on learning that Apries was approaching with reinforce
ments, he attacked them boldly, and driving them before
him, hemmed them in between his own force and that of
the king and massacred them all. Apries thought that the
revolt at Marea would have a similar issue, and that he
might succeed in baffling the rebels by fair words ; he sent
to them as his representative Amasis, one of his generals,
distantly connected probably with the royal house. What
took place in the camp is not clearly known, for the actual
events have been transformed in the course of popular
transmission into romantic legends. The story soon took
shape that Amasis was born of humble parentage in the
village of Siuph, not far from Sais ; he was fond, it was
narrated, of wine, the pleasures of the table, and women,
and replenished his empty purse by stealing what he could
lay his hands on from his neighbours or comrades a gay
boon-companion all the while, with an easy disposition and
sarcastic tongue. According to some accounts, he con
ciliated the favour of Apries by his invariable affability and
good humour ; according to others, he won the king s
confidence by presenting him with a crown of flowers on
his birthday. 1 The story goes on to say that while he was
haranguing the rebels, one of them, slipping behind him,
suddenly placed on his head the rounded helmet of the
Pharaohs : the bystanders immediately proclaimed him

1 The king to whom Amasis made this offering is called Patarmis,
and the similarity of this name with the Patai bemis of Herodotus seems
to indicate a variant of the legend, in which Patarmis or Patarbemis took
the place of Apries.

448 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

king, and after a slight show of resistance he accepted
the dignity. As soon as the rumour of these events had
reached Sais, Apries despatched Patarbemis, one of his
chief officers, with orders to hring back the rebel chief
alive. The latter was seated on his horse, on the point
of breaking up his camp and marching against his former
patron, when the envoy arrived. On learning the nature
of his mission, Amasis charged him to carry back a reply
to the effect that he had already been making preparation
to submit, and besought the sovereign to grant him
patiently a few days longer, so that he might bring with
him the Egyptian subjects of Pharaoh. Tradition adds
that, on receiving this insolent defiance, Apries fell into
a violent passion, and without listening to remonstrance,
ordered the nose and ears of Patarbemis to be cut off,
whereupon the indignant people, it is alleged, deserted
his cause and ranged themselves on the side of Amasis.
The mercenaries, however, did not betray the confidence
reposed in them by their Egyptian lords. Although only
thirty thousand against a whole people, they unflinchingly
awaited the attack at Momemphis (569 B.C.) ; but, being
overwhelmed by the numbers of their assailants, disbanded
and fled, after a conflict lasting one day. Apries, taken
prisoner in the rout, was at first well treated by the
conqueror, and seems even to have retained for a time
the external pomp of royalty ; but the populace of Sais
demanding his execution with vehemence, Amasis was at
length constrained to deliver him up to their vengeance,
and Apries was strangled by the mob. He was honourably
interred between the royal palace and the temple of Nit,

THE CHALDEAN INVASION 449

not far from the spot where his predecessors reposed in
their glory, 1 and the usurper made himself sole master of
the country. It was equivalent to a change of dynasty,
and Amasis had recourse to the methods usual in such
cases to consolidate his power. He entered into a
marriage alliance with princesses of the Saite line, and
thus legitimatised his usurpation as far as the north was
concerned. 2 In the south, the " divine worshippers had
continued to administer the extensive heritage of Amon,
and Nitocris, heiress of Shapenuapit, had adopted in her
old age a daughter of her great-nephew, Psammetichus II.,
named Ankhnasnofiribri : this princess was at this time
in possession of Thebes, and Amasis appears to have
entered into a fictitious marriage with her in order to
assume to himself her rights to the crown. He had hardly
succeeded in establishing his authority on a firm basis
when he was called upon to repel the Chaldasan invasion.
The Hebrew prophets had been threatening Egypt with
this invasion for a long time, and Ezekiel, discounting the
future, had already described the entrance of Pharaoh
into Hades, to dwell among the chiefs of the nations
Assur, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, Edom, and Philistia who,
having incurred the vengeance of Jahveh, had descended
into the grave one after the other : " Pharaoh and all his
army shall be slain by the sword, saith the Lord God!
For I have put this terror in the land of the living : and

1 It was probably from this necropolis that the coffin of Psammetichus
II. came.

2 The wife of Amasis, who was mother of Psammetichus III., the queen
Tintkhiti, daughter of Petenit, prophet of Phtah, was probably connected
with the royal family of Sais.

VOL. VIII. 2 G

450 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircuincised, with
them that are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all
his multitude, saith the Lord God!" 1 Nebuchadrezzar
had some hesitation in hazarding his fortune in a campaign
on the banks of the Nile : he realised tolerably clearly that
Babylon was not in command of such resources as had
been at the disposal of Nineveh under Esarhaddon or
Assur-bani-pal, and that Egypt in the hands of a Saite
dynasty was a more formidable foe than when ruled by
the Ethiopians. The report of the revolution of which
Apries had become a victim at length determined him to
act ; the annihilation of the Hellenic troops, and the
dismay which the defeat at Irasa had occasioned in the
hearts of the Egyptians, seemed to offer an opportunity
too favourable to be neglected. The campaign was opened
by Nebuchadrezzar about 568, in the thirty-seventh year
of his reign, 2 but we have no certain information as to
the issue of his enterprise. According to Chaldean
tradition, Nebuchadrezzar actually invaded the valley of
the Nile and converted Egypt into a Babylonian province,

1 EzeTc. xxxii. 31, 32.

2 A fragment of his Annals, discovered by Pinches, mentions in the
thirty-seventh year of his reign a campaign against [Ahjmasu, King of
Egypt ; and Wiedemann, from the evidence of this document combined
with the information derived from one of the monuments in the Louvre,
thought that the fact of a conquest of Egypt as far as Syene might
be admitted ; at that point the Egyptian general Nsihor would have
defeated the Chaldaeans and repelled the invasion, and this event would
have taken place during the joint reign of Apries and Amasis. A more
attentive examination of the Egyptian monument shows that it refers
not to a Chaldfean war, but to a rebellion of the garrisons in the south
of Egypt, including the Greek and Semitic auxiliaries.

NEBUCHADREZZAR AND ASTYAGES 451

with Amasis as its satrap. 1 We may well believe that
Arnasis lost the conquests won by his predecessor in
Phoenicia, if, indeed, they still belonged to Egypt at his
accession : but there is nothing to indicate that the
Chaldseans ever entered Egypt itself and repeated the
Assyrian exploit of a century before.

This was Nebuchadrezzar s last war, the last at least of
which history makes any mention. As a fact, the kings of
the second Babylonian empire do not seem to have been
the impetuous conquerors which we have fancied them to
be. We see them as they are depicted to us in the visions
of the Hebrew prophets, who, regarding them and their
nation as a scourge in the hands of God, had no colours
vivid enough or images sufficiently terrible to portray them.
They had blotted out Nineveh from the list of cities,
humiliated Pharaoh, and subjugated Syria, and they had
done all this almost at their first appearance in the field-
such a feat as Assyria and Egypt in the plenitude of their
strength had been unable to accomplish : they had, more
over, destroyed Jerusalem and carried Judah into captivity.
There is nothing astonishing in the fact that this Nebucha
drezzar, whose history is known to us almost entirely from
Jewish sources, should appear as a fated force let loose upon
the world. " thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be
ere thou be quiet ? put up thyself into the scabbard ; rest
and be still ! How canst thou be quiet, seeing the Lord

1 These events would have taken place in the twenty-third year
of Nebuchadrezzar ; the reigning king (Apries) being killed and his
place taken by one of his generals (Amasis), who remained a satrap of
the Babylonian empire.

452 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

hath given thee a charge ? " * But his campaigns in Syria
and Africa, of which the echoes transmitted to us still seem
so formidable, were not nearly so terrible in reality as those
in which Elam had perished a century previously ; they
were, moreover, the only conflicts which troubled the peace
of his reign. The Arabian chroniclers affirm, indeed, that
the fabulous wealth of Yemen had incited him to invade
that region. Nebuchadrezzar, they relate, routed, not far
from the town of Dhat-irk, the Joctanides of Jorhom, who
had barred his road to the Kaabah, and after seizing Mecca,
reached the borders of the children of Himyra : the
exhausted condition of his soldiers having prevented him
from pressing further forward in his career of conquest, he
retraced his steps and returned to Babylon with a great
number of prisoners, including two entire tribes, those of
Hadhura and Uabar, whom he established as colonists in
Chaldaea. 2 He never passed in this direction beyond the
limits reached by Assur-bani-pal, and his exploits were
restricted to some successful raids against the tribes of
Kedar and Nabataea. 3 The same reasons which at the
commencement of his reign had restrained his ambition to
extend his dominions towards the east and north, were
operative up to the end of his life. Astyages had not
inherited the martial spirit of his father Cyaxares, and only

1 Jer. xlvii. 6, 7.

2 Most of the Arabic legends relating to these conquests of Nebucha
drezzar are indirectly derived from the biblical story ; but it is possible
that the history of the expeditions against Central Arabia is founded
on fact.

3 This seems to follow from Jeremiah s imprecations upon Kedar
(Jer. xlix. 28-33).

NEBUCHADREZZAR A MAN OF PEACE 453

one warlike expedition, that against the Cadusians, is
ascribed to him. 1 Naturally indolent, lacking in decision,
superstitious and cruel, he passed a life of idleness amid the
luxury of a corrupt court, surrounded by pages, women, and
eunuchs, with no more serious pastime than the chase,
pursued within the limits of his own parks or on the
confines of the desert. But if the king was weak, his
empire was vigorous, and Nebuchadrezzar, brought up from
his youth to dread the armies of Media, retained his respect
for them up to the end of his life, even when there was no
longer any occasion to do so. Nebuchadrezzar was, after
all, not so much a warrior as a man of peace, whether so
constituted by nature or rendered so by political necessity
in its proper sense, and he took advantage of the long
intervals of quiet between his campaigns to complete the
extensive works which more than anything else have won
for him his renown. During the century which had
preceded the fall of Nineveh, Babylonia had had several
bitter experiences ; it had suffered almost entire destruction
at the hands of Sennacherib ; it had been given up to
pillage by Assur-bani-pal, not to mention the sieges and
ravages it had sustained in the course of continual revolts.
The other cities of Babylonia, Sippara, Borsippa, Kutha,
Nipur, Uruk, and Uru, had been subjected to capture and
recapture, while the surrounding districts, abandoned in
turn to Elamites, Assyrians, and the Kalda, had lain un
cultivated for many years. The canals at the same time had
become choked with mud, the banks had fallen in, and the

Moses of Chorene attributes to him long wars against an Armenian
king named Tigranes ; but this is a fiction of a later age.

454 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

waters, no longer kept under control, had overflowed the
land, and the plains long since reclaimed for cultivation had
returned to their original condition of morasses and reed-
beds ; at Babylon itself the Arakhtu, still encumbered with
the debris cast into it by Sennacherib, was no longer
navigable, and was productive of more injury than profit to
the city : in some parts the aspect of the country must
have been desolate and neglected as at the present day, and
the work accomplished by twenty generations had to be
begun entirely afresh. Nabopolassar had already applied
himself to the task in spite of the anxieties of his Assyrian
campaigns, and had raised many earthworks in both the
capital and the provinces. But a great deal more still
remained to be done, and Nebuchadrezzar pushed forward
the work planned by his father, and carried it to completion
undeterred and undismayed by any difficulties. 1 The com
bined system of irrigation and navigation introduced by the
kings of the first Babylonian empire twenty centuries pre
viously, was ingeniously repaired ; the beds of the principal
canals, the Eoyal river and the Arakhtu, were straightened
and deepened; the drainage of the country between the
Tigris and the Euphrates was regulated by means of
subsidiary canals and a network of dykes ; the canals sur
rounding Babylon or intersecting in the middle of the city
were cleaned out, and a waterway was secured for naviga
tion from one river to the other, and from the plateau of
Mesopotamia to the Nar-Marratum. 2 We may well believe

1 The only long inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar which we possess, are
those commemorating the great works he designed and executed.

2 The irrigation works of Nebuchadrezzar are described at length,

THE FORTIFICATIONS OF BABYLON 455

that all Nebuchadrezzar s undertakings were carried out in
accordance with a carefully prepared scheme for perfecting
the defences of the kingdom while completing the system
of internal communication. The riches of Karduniash,
now restored to vigour by continued peace, and become the
centre of a considerable empire, could not fail to excite the
jealousy of its neighbours, and particularly that of the most
powerful among them, the Medes of Ecbatana. It is true
that the relations between Nebuchadrezzar and Astyages
continued to be cordial, and as yet there were no indications
of a rupture ; but it was always possible that under their
successors the good understanding between the two courts
might come to an end, and it was needful to provide
against the possibility of the barbarous tribes of Iran being
let loose upon Babylon, and attempting to inflict on her the
fate they had brought upon Nineveh. Nebuchadrezzar,
therefore, was anxious to interpose, between himself and
these possible foes, such a series of fortifications that the
most persevering enemy would be worn out by the prolonged
task of forcing them one after another, provided that they
were efficiently garrisoned. He erected across the northern
side of the isthmus between the two rivers a great embank
ment, faced with bricks cemented together with bitumen,
called the Wall of Media ; this wall, starting from Sippara,
stretched from the confluence of the Saklauiyeh with the
Euphrates to the site of the modern village of Jibbara on

and perhaps exaggerated, by Abydenus, who merely quotes Berosus
more or less inaccurately. The completion of the quays along the Arakhtu,
begun by Nabopolassar, is noticed in the East India Company s Inscription.
A special inscription, publ. by H. Rawlinson, gives an account of the
repairing of the canal Libil-khigallu, which crossed Babylon.

456 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

the Tigris ; on both sides of it four or five deep trenches
were excavated, which were passable on raised causeways
or by bridges of boats, so arranged as to be easily broken up
in case of invasion. The eastern frontier was furnished
with a rampart protected by a wide moat, following,
between Jibbara and Nipur, the contours of a low-lying
district which could be readily flooded. The western

CITY DEFENDED BY A TRIPLE WALL. 1

boundary was already protected by the Pallakottas, and the
lakes or marshes of Bahr-i-Nejif : Nebuchadrezzar
multiplied the number of the dikes, and so arranged them
that the whole country between the suburbs of Borsippa
and Babylon could be inundated at will. Babylon itself
formed as it were the citadel in the midst of these enormous
outlying fortifications, and the engineers both of Nabopo-
lassar and of his son expended all the resources of their

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief of the time of Sargon,
in the Museum of the Louvre.

THE TRIPLE WALL

457

art on rendering it impregnable. A triple rampart sur
rounded it and united it to Borsippa, built on the model of
those whose outline is so frequently found on the lowest
tier of an Assyrian bas-relief. A moat of great width, with
banks of masonry, communicating with the Euphrates,
washed the foot of the outer wall, which retained the
traditional name of Imgur-bel : behind this wall rose
Nimitti-bel, the true city wall, to a height of more than
ninety feet above the level of the plain, appearing from

^

PROBABLE SECTION OF TIIE TKIPLE WALL OF BABYLON. 1

a distance, with its battlements and towers, more like a
mountain chain than a rampart built by the hand of man ;
finally, behind Nimitti-bel ran a platform on the same level
as the curtain of Imgur-bel, forming a last barrier behind
which the garrison could rally before finally owning itself
defeated and surrendering the city. Large square towers
rose at intervals along the face of the walls, to the height
of some eighteen feet above the battlements : a hundred
gates fitted with bronze-plated doors, which could be
securely shut at need, gave access to the city. 2

1 Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from the restoration by Dieulafoy.

2 The description of the fortifications of the city is furnished by
Herodotus, who himself saw them still partially standing; the account

458 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

The space within the walls was by no means completely
covered by houses, but contained gardens, farms, fields,
and, here and there, the ruins of deserted buildings. As
in older Babylon, the city proper clustered round the
temple of Merodach, with its narrow winding streets, its

crowded bazaars, its noisy
and dirty squares, its
hostelries and warehouses
of foreign merchandise.
The pyramid of Esarhad-
don and Assur-bani-pal,
too hastily built, had
fallen into ruins : Nebu
chadrezzar reconstructed
its seven stages, and
erected on the topmost
platform a shrine fur
nished with a table of
massive gold, and a couch
on which the priestess
chosen to be the spouse

of the god might sleep at night Other small temples were
erected here and there on both banks of the river, and the
royal palace, built in the marvellously short space of fifteen
days, was celebrated for its hanging gardens, where the
ladies of the harem might walk unveiled, secure from
vulgar observation. No trace of all these extensive works

of their construction has been given by Nebuchadrezzar himself, in
the East India Company s Inscription.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Layard.

FRAGMENT OF A

BABYLONIAN BAS-

KELIEF, 1

SITE OF THE GREAT ZIGGURAT

459

remains at the present day. Some scattered fragments of
crumbling walls alone betray the site of the great ziggurat,
a few bas-reliefs are strewn over the surface of the ground,
and a lion of timeworn stone, lying on its back in a
depression of the soil, is perhaps the last survivor of those

RUINS OF THE ZIGGUKAT OF THE TEMPLE OF BEL. 1

which kept watch, according to custom, at the gates of
the palace. But the whole of this vast work of recon
struction and ornamentation must not be attributed to
Nebuchadrezzar alone. The plans had been designed by
Nabopolassar under the influence of one of his wives, who
by a strange chance bears in classic tradition the very
Egyptian name of Nitocris ; but his work was insignificant

1 Drawn by Faucher-Guclin, from a sketch in Layard.

460 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

compared with that accomplished by his son, and the name
of Nebuchadrezzar was justly connected with the marvels
of Babylon by all ancient writers. But even his reign of
fifty-five years did not suffice for the completion of all his
undertakings, and many details still remained imperfect at

his death in the
beginning of 562
B.C. Though of
Kaldu origin, and
consequently ex
posed to the sus
picions and secret
enmity of the
native Babylo
nians, as all of his
race, even Mero-
dach - Baladan
himself, had been

before him, he had yet succeeded throughout the whole of
his reign in making himself respected by the turbulent
inhabitants of his capital, and in curbing the ambitious
pretensions of the priests of Merodach. As soon as his
master-hand was withdrawn, the passions so long repressed
broke forth, and proved utterly beyond the control of his
less able or less fortunate successors. 2 As far as we are able

Drawn, by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph furnished by Father
Scheil.

The sequel of this history is known from the narrative of Berosus. Its
authenticity is proved by passages on the Cylinder of Nabonidus. Messer-
schmidt considers that Amil-marduk and Labashi-marduk were overthrown
by the priestly faction, but a passage on the Cylinder, in which Nabonidus

THE STONE LION OF BABYLON. 1

THE SUCCESSORS OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 461

to judge by the documents which have come down to us,
two factions had arisen in the city since the fall of Nineveh,
hoth of which aspired to power and strove to gain a con
trolling influence with the sovereign. The one comprised
the descendants of the Kalda who had delivered the city
from the Assyrian yoke, together with those of the ancient
military nobility. The other was composed of the great
priestly families and their adherents, who claimed for the
gods or their representatives the right to control the affairs
of the state, and to impose the will of heaven on the
rulers of the kingdom. The latter faction seems to have
prevailed at first at the court of Amil-marduk, the sole
surviving son and successor of Nebuchadrezzar. This
prince on his accession embraced a policy contrary to that
pursued by his father : and one of his first acts was to
release Jehoiachin, King of Judah, who had been languish
ing in chains for twenty-seven years, and to ameliorate the
condition of the other expatriated Jews. 1 The official
history of a later date represented him as having been an
unjust sovereign, but we have no information as to his

represents himself as inheriting the political views of Nebuchadrezzar and
Nergal-sharuzur, leads me to take the opposite view. We know what
hatred Nabonidus roused in the minds of the priests of Merodach because
his principles of government were opposed to theirs : the severe judgment
he passed on the rule of Amil-marduk and Labashi-marduk seems to
prove that he considered them as belonging to the rival party in the
state, that is, to the priestly faction. The forms of the names and
the lengths of the several reigns have been confirmed by contemporary
monuments, especially by the numerous contract tablets. The principal
inscriptions belonging to the reign of Nergal-sharuzur deal only with
public works and the restoration of monuments.
1 2 Kings xxv. 27-30 ; cf. Jer. lii. 31-34.

462 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

misdeeds, and know only that after two years a conspiracy
broke out against him, led by his own brother-in-law,
Nergal-sharuzur, who assassinated him and seized the
vacant throne (560 B.C.). Nergal-sharuzur endeavoured to
revive the policy of Nebuchadrezzar, and was probably
supported by the military party, but his reign was a short
one ; he died in 556 B.C,, leaving as sole heir a youth of
dissipated character named Labashi-marduk, whose name
is stigmatised by the chroniclers as that of a prince who
knew not how to rule. He was murdered at the end of
nine months, and his place taken by a native Babylonian,
a certain Nabonaid (Nabonidus), son of Nabo-balatsu-ikbi,
who was not connected by birth with his immediate prede
cessors on the throne (556-555 B.C.).

No Oriental empire could escape from the effects of
frequent and abrupt changes in its rulers : like so many
previous dynasties, that of Nabopolassar became enfeebled
as if from exhaustion immediately after the death of its
most illustrious scion, and foundered in imbecility and
decrepitude. Popular imagination, awe-struck by such a
sudden downfall from exalted prosperity, recognised the
hand of God in the events which brought about the
catastrophe. A Chaldsean legend, current not long after,
related how Nebuchadrezzar, being seized towards the end
of his life with the spirit of prophecy, mounted to the roof
of his palace, and was constrained, as a punishment for his
pride, to predict to his people, with his own lips, the
approaching ruin of their city ; thereupon the glory of its
monarch suffered an eclipse from which there was no
emerging. The Jews, nourishing undying hatred for the

NABONIDUS 463

conqueror who had overthrown Jerusalem and destroyed
the Temple of Solomon, were not satisfied with a punish
ment so inadequate. According to them, Nebuchadrezzar,
after his victorious career, was so intoxicated with his own
glory that he proclaimed himself the equal of God. " Is
not this great Bahylon," he cried, " which I have built for
the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power, and for
the glory of my majesty ! " and while he thus spake, there
came a voice from heaven, decreeing his metamorphosis
into the form of a beast. " He was driven from men, and
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles feathers, and his
nails like birds claws." For seven years the king
remained in this state, to resume his former shape at the
end of this period, and recover his kingdom after having
magnified the God of Israel. 1 The founder of the dynasty
which replaced that of Nebuchadrezzar, Nabonidus, was
certainly ill fitted to brave the storms already threatening
to break over his kingdom. It has not been ascertained
whether he had any natural right to the throne, or by what
means he attained supreme power, but the way in which
he dwells on the names of Nebuchadrezzar and Nergal-
sharuzur renders it probable that he was raised to the
throne by the military faction. He did not prove, as
events turned turned out, a good general, nor even a
soldier of moderate ability, and it is even possible that he
also lacked that fierce courage of which none of his prede
cessors was ever destitute. He allowed his army to dwindle
away and his fortresses to fall into ruins ; the foreign

1 Dan, iv.

464 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE

alliances existing at his accession, together with those
which he himself had concluded, were not turned to the
best advantage ; his provinces were badly administered, and
his subjects rendered discontented : his most salient
characteristic was an insatiable curiosity concerning
historical and religious antiquities, which stimulated him
to undertake excavations in all the temples, in order to
bring to light monuments of ages long gone by. He was
a monarch of peaceful disposition, who might have reigned
with some measure of success in a century of unbroken
peace, or one troubled only by petty wars with surrounding
inferior states ; but, unfortunately, the times were ill suited
to such mild sovereignty. The ancient Eastern world,
worn out by an existence reckoned by thousands of years,
as well as by its incessant conflicts, would have desired,
indeed, no better fate than to enjoy some years of repose in
the condition in which recent events had left it ; but other
nations, the Greeks and the Persians, by no means anxious
for tranquillity, were entering the lists. For the moment
the efforts of the Greeks were concentrated on Egypt,
where Pharaoh manifested for them inexhaustible good
will, and on Cyprus, two-thirds of which belonged to them ;
the danger for Chaldgea lay in the Persians, kinsfolk and
vassals of the Medes, whose semi-barbarous chieftains had
issued from their mountain homes some eighty years
previously to occupy the eastern districts of Elam.

END OF VOL. VIII.

INDEX

Abdimilkdt, 124

Abu-Simbel, Graffito at, 415

Abu-Simbel, Temple of, 417

Achsemenes, 281

Achaemeuides, 384

Adramnielech (Adarmalik), 117

Adyattes. See Meles

JEolians, The, 103

Africa, Egyptian fleet sails round, 406,

407

Ahaz, 20

Ahura-mazda, 274
Ahura-inazda, Map of the lands created

by, 274

Altaku (Eltekeh), 27, 29, 36
Alyattes, 393, 394
Ainadai (Madai) See Medes
Arnasis, 447, 448
Auienertas, Queen, 338, 358, 359
Aminon (or Ammonites), 422
Aminon, Oasis of, 440
Arnon (of Judah), 311, 316
Arnon, Priestesses of, 337
Andaria, 151, 201

Anshan, or Anzan (see also Persia), 282
Apries (Uaphres), 422, 425, 436
Apries, Head of a sphinx of, 263
Apries, Sphinx of, 422
Apries, Vase in form of helmed head of,

262
Arabia, Submission of, to Assur-bani-pal,

243

Arabians, 288, 289
Arabs (see also Aramseans), 131, 146, 153,

243

Arabs, Submission of, toEsarhaddon, 135
Aramaean sheikhs, 192
Aramaeans, The, 56, 63
Arbela, 204, 215
Ardys, 108, 177
Argistis II., 150
Armenia, 119
Arpad, 37

Arvad, 148, 171, 175
Aryans, The, 275

Ashdod, 360
Asia Minor, 177, 389
Asmakh, 353

Assur-bani-pal (Kandalanu), 162, 165-
168, 175, 185, 228, 239, 260, 288, 293,
294, 323, 338

Babylon captured by, 232

Bas-relief of, 299

Head of, 187

Library of, 293

Submission of Arabia to, 243
Assur-bani-pal and his queen, 216
Assur-etililani, 323-325
Assur-uadin-shuniu, 41
Assyria (or Assur)

Art of, 68

Egyptian influence on art, 162, 289

Elam conquered by, 217

Ezekiel s description of, 79

Prisoners of, 427

Revolt of Egypt against, 163
Assyrian cavalry raid, 73
Assyrian helmet, 195
Assyrian king, 428
Assyrian lion-hunts, 197
Assyrian soldiers, Raid by, 43
Assyrian triangle (map of), 300
Assyrians carrying away captives, 431
Astyages (Ishtuvigu), 400, 451
Athribis, 155, 174
Atyadse, The, 101

B

Baal (god), 314

Baal I., King of Tyre, 148, 150, 158, 175
Babylon, 454, 463

Capture of, by Assur-bani-pal, 231

Destruction of, by Sennacherib, 61

Fortifications of, 455, 456

Kings of, 40

Lion of, 460

Rebuilding of, 133

Revolt of, under Merodach-baladan, 5
Babylonian bas-relief, 458
Bartutua, 128, 129, 307
Baviau, Bas-reliefs at, 66
Baviau, Stele at, 69

INDEX

" Bel, Taking the hands of," 169, 232

Belibni (King of Babylon), 6, 41

Bel-marduk, 61

Bel-marduk, Temple of, at Babylon, 168,
170, 221, 459

Beuhadad II. (Adadidri or Hadadezer),
Death of, 13

Bit-Adini (in Bit-Dakkuri), 56

Bit-Amukkaui, 56, 220

Bit-Dakkuri (or Bit-Dakuri), 56, 220

Bit-Dayaukku, The, 88

Bit-Imbi, 247, 257

Bit-Yakin, 40, 64, 325

Bohbait, Lion of, 436

Bubastis, 10

C

Calah, 160, 324

Calah, Palace of, 160, 161

Carchemish, 148, 377

Carchemish, Battle of, 381

Carian inscription, 348

Carian mercenaries, 178, 349

Cariaus, The, 178, 179, 334, 339, 345

Carthage (Qart-hadshat), 14

Chaldsea, 267. See also Karduuiash

Chaldsean empire, The new, 378

Chalybes, 103

Cilicia, 124, 176

Cimmerians, The, 111. 112, 113, 119, 122,

125, 307

Attacked by Gyges, 182, 183
Battle against the Greeks, 240
In Syria, 319

Colophon, 236

Comana, 97

Cossseans, The, 9

Cyaxares (Huvakshatara), 268, 295, 307,
322, 326, 381, 388, 395

Cyaxares attacks Nineveh, 299

Cyaxares drives back the Scythians, 323

Cyprus, 148, 160

Cyrene, 439, 443

Cyreue, Kuins of, 441

D

Damascus, 159
Daphnse, 350, 433
Daphnfe, Fortress of, 347
Dascylus (Daskylos), 108, 177
Deiokes, 85, 87, 268
Dido (Elfesa), 14
Dur-Sharrukin, 63, 324

E

Eastern World, Map of the, 229, 331
Ecbatana (Agbatana), (see also Hamadan),

86
Ecbatana, Kingdom of, 85, 132

Edom, 422

Egypt

Assyrian province, 155, 173, 175
Brook of (Wady-el-Arish), 123
Esarhaddon s invasion of, 153
Ethiopians withdraw from, 339
Greater Egypt, End of, 343
Eevolt against Assyria, 163
Tanuatamanu reconquers, 191

Egyptian army, 403

Egyptian fleet, 403-407

Egyptian head, Saite period, 81

Egyptian influence on Assyrian art, 160,
289

Egyptian torso at Turin, 265

Egyptian vessel, 404

Ekron, 23, 27, 28

Elam, 330

Disabled by discord, 225
Final ruin of, 259, 261
First subject to Assyria, 217
Revolutions in, 247

Sennacherib s expedition against, 45,
53

Elisa. See Dido.

Ellipi, 56, 88

Elulai, 19, 26, 148

Ephesus, 234, 240

Esarhaddon (Assur-akhg-iddin), 83, 115,
167

Esarhaddon as King of Egypt, 158

Esarhaddou takes Memphis, 155, 159

Esarhaddou s campaigns against the
Kalda, 121

Esarhaddon s invasion of Egypt, 153

Eth-baal (of Sidon), 13, 26

Ethiopia, 138

Ethiopians withdraw from Egypt, 339

Etius (Etiaus), 387

Ezekiel (the prophet), 418, 449

Ezekiel s description of Assyria, 79

G

Gambula (or Gambulu), The, 56, 202
Gebel-Barkal, Hemispeos of, 143, 144
Greek, Egyptian, 348
Greeks, Battle of the Cimmerians against

the, 240
Gyges, 109, 177-181, 234-239, 340

H

Habakkuk (the prophet), 412
Hadadezer (or Adadidri). See Benhadad

II.
Halys, Banks of, 104

Battle of the, 399

Caves on the banks of, 115

DsDEX

llainadaii (See also Ecbataua), 89

Hainadau, View of, 88

Hazor, 27

Heraclidaa, The, 101, 102, 109, 177, 179

Hezekiah, 5, 21, 29, 33, 37, 149

Hezekiah, Reforms of, 20

Hiram II., 15

Hittite syllabary, 104

Hoplites, Greek, 413

Hoplites in action, 335

Horses as tribute, 176

Huldali, the prophetess, 363

Indabigash, 245, 247
Ionian mercenaries, 350
lonians, The, 103, 347, 437
Iran, 277

Iranian soldiers, 311
Iranian tableland, 84
Ishtar (of Arbela), 203
Israel, Kingdom of, 159

Jeconiah. See Jehoiakitn
Jehoahaz or Shallum (of Judah), 378
Jehoiakim (Jeconiah), 378, 408-411, 461
Jeremiah (the prophet), 316, 363, 379,

408, 409, 426
Jerusalem

Destruction of, 428, 429

Fortified by Hezekiah, 29

Siege of, by Nebuchadrezzar, 412

Siege of, by Sennacherib, 36

Temple of, 20, 371, 417
Jews submit to Sennacherib, 31
Joppa, 27

Josiah, 362, 363, 373, 377
Josiah s religious reforms, 371
Judaea, Map of, 23
Judah, Kingdom of, 12, 311, 362
Judah, Kings of, 430

K

Kalakh. See Calah

Kalda, The (or Aramaeans), 52, 63, 201,

220
Kalda, Esarhaddon s campaigns against,

118

Karduniash invaded by Tamuiaritu, 194
Kedar, Sheikhs of, 135, 192, 243, 257, 407
Khalludush, 46, 53, 252
Khalludush invades Karduniash, 53
Khalule, Battle of, 57
Kharkhar, 89. 131
Khati, The, 148, 160

Khumbftn-igash, 212, 213, 221, 223, 225
Khumban-Khaldash II., 147
Kition, or Citium (Amathus), 19
Kouyunjik, 292
Kouyuujik, Palace of, 69
Kui, The, 64
Kutur-nakhuuta, 54, 55

Lachish (Tell-el-Hesy), 29, 33
Libya (Lubim), 196

Greeks in, 438

Map of, 443
Limir-patesi-assur, 174
Lubdi, 150, 201
Lycians, The, 239
Lydia, 93, 237, 267

Lydia, Kingdom of, 101, 103, 177, 183
Lydian horsemen, l81
Lydians, 400

M

Madyes, 306, 310, 322, 395

Magan, 47

Magnesia (of Sipylos), 236

Manasseh (of Judah), 149, 311, 316

Manual, The (the Miniii), 64, 126, 185,

196, 201
Manuai, Incursions of, under Esarhad-

don, 126

Mantumibait (see Montumihait) 163
Marduk-ushezib, 40
Mashauasha, The (Maxyes), 335, 439,

446

Mashauasha, Flight of the, 351
Medes, The, 84, 89, 90, 201, 271, 324, 380,

456

Attacked by Sennacherib, 9
Media, 267

Flora and fauna, 277
Wall of, 456

Median Empire, The, 401
Medic horseman, 298
Mediterranean, 173
Mediterranean vessels, 48
Megiddo, 376

Megiddo, Battle of, 376, 377
Meles, 109
Melukhkha, 48

Memphis, 10, 160, 190, 339, 433
Memphis taken by Esarhaddon, 155, 160
Memphite bas-relief, 359
Mermnadae, The, 109, 177, 391
Merodach-baladan or Mardukabalidinna

(King of Babylon), 5
Messogis, Mountains of, 390
Midas, 94, 96, 101
Midas, Monument of, 95

IXDEX

Milesians, Fort of the, 347

Miletus, 237

Mitanni, 148

Moab, 422

Montumihait, 173, 189, 337-341, 359

Montumihait, Head of, 174

Mugallu (of Milid), 151

Mushezib-marduk, 53-58

Mushku (or Mushki), The, 387

Mutton I., 13

Mutton II. (or Mattan), 15

N

Nabo-bel-shunii, 248
Nabonidus, 460, 461
Nabopolassar (Nabu-bal-uzur), 325, 326,

381, 454, 459
Nagitu, 52
Nahr-el-Kelb, 156

Mouth of, 156

Stele of, 157

Nahum, the prophet, 196, 304, 305
Nan a

Image of, 252

Statue of, 221, 249
Ncir-marratum, Map of the, 48
Ndr, The fleet of Sennacherib on the, 49
Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar), 381,
402, 423, 426, 450, 451, 462

Besieges Jerusalem, 412

Stele of, 424

Nebuchadrezzar and Media, 386
Necho, 164, 189, 403, 408, 412
Necho II., 374, 377

Invasion of Syria by, 375

Scarab of, 378
Nergal-ushezib, 53
Nergal-ushezib in battle, 54
Nineveh, 48, 323

Attacked by Cyaxares, 299

Destruction of, 328

Fosse at, 302

Map of, 301

Mounds of, 63
Nisaean horses, 279
Nisaya, 273
Nubians, The (Put), 196

O

Obelisks at Rome, 421, 437

Pakruru, 336

Pasargadae, The, 281

Pasargadse (city) 285

Pelusium, Sennacherib s disaster at, 38

Persia, 282

Persia, Scene in, 283

Persian, A, 287

Persian archer, 285

Persian foot-soldiers, 297

Persian Gulf, 41, 47

Persian intaglio, 82

Persian realm, Map of the, 280

Persians, The, 280

Philistines, The, 64, 422

Phoenicians, The, 159, 257, 378

Phraortes (Fravartish), 268, 280, 287,

294, 295

Phrygian gods, 96, 99
Phrygians, 96, 104
Plataea, 439
Prieue, Site of, 391

Psammetichus I., 174, 175, 333, 340, 344,
345, 348

Buildings of, 355

Revolt of, 233

Statue of, 235

Syrian policy of, 361
Psammetichus II., 414, 421, 422
Pteria, 103, 114, 395, 398

Ruins of, 396
Pukudu (or Puqudu), The (Pekod), 56,

221
Pygmalion, 14

R

Rabshakeh, The, of 2 Kings, 30
Rabshakeh, under Esaruaddon and Assur-

bani-pal, 172
Raphia, 153, 154
Red Sea, The, 405
Rusas II., 151, 152
Rusas III., 212

Sabaco (Shabaka), 163

Cartouche of, 11
Sadyattes, 177-180
Sais, 163

Ruins of, 361
Sardauapalus, 267
Sardes (Sardis), 102, 105, 108, 236

View of, 105
Sardis. See Sardes
Scythian invasion, The, 390
Scythian soldiers, 311
Scythians, The, 111, 112, 122, 125-128,
306, 324, 362

Driven back by Cyaxares, 323

Incursions of, under Esarhaddon, 127

Tending their wounded, 308
Sennacherib (Sin-akhg-irba), 72

Bas-relief of, 65

Besieges Jerusalem, 37

INDEX

Buildings of, 71

Head of, 79

Impression of seal of on clay, 80

Invades Elam, 53

Jews submit to, 33

Murder of, 117

Sennacherib s disaster at Pelusium, 39
Sennacherib s expedition against Elam,

45

Sepharvaim (or Sibraim), 37
Shabaka. See Sabaco
Shabaku. See Sabaco
Shabarain. See Sepharvaim
Shabitoku, 11, 27, 137
Shatnash-shuinukin, 162-170, 218, 219,

231, 340

Shapenuapit II., 337-341
Sharezer, 117-119
Shupria, 150, 151

Sidon (see also Tyre), 15, 17, 22, 124
Silphiuin, 443
Silphium, Weighing, 445
Sinai, Desert of, 153
Siu-shar-ishkun, 324, 325
Sion, Mount, 314
Susa, 385

Destruction of, 249

Gods carried off from, 249

Tumulus of, 253
Syria, 171, 330

Coalition against, 221

Invaded by Necho II., 375
Syrian shipwrights, 48
Syrians, The white, 103, 109, 113, 177

Tabal, The, 151, 176, 184, 309, 387
Taharqa (Tirhakah) 138, 139, 145, 153,
158, 165, 189, 337

Buildings of, in Ethiopia, 142

Bronze statuette of, 83

Column of, at Karnak, 141

Head of, 145

Second defeat of, 171
Taharqa and his queen, 139
Tammaritu, 210, 226, 248
Tamniaritu invades Karduniash, 194
Tanuatamanu, 138, 189, 339

Bas-relief of, 191

Reconquers Egypt, 191
Tartan, The, of 2 Kings xviii., 34 ; of
Isaiah xx., under Esarhaddon, 171,
172

Teiria, 107

Theban queen, Statue of a, 338
Thebes, pillaged by the Assyrians, 190
Thracians, The, 90
Tirhakah. See Taharqa
Tiumman, 201-216, 246
Treres, The, 113

Tul-Barsip (capital of Bit-Adini), 48
Tulliz, 205

Battle of, 207, 209, 212, 213
Tyre, 12, 146, 423, 435

Map of, 18

Ruin of its kingdom, 27

Trade of, 16
Tyrseni, The, 101, 103

U

Hate", 257, 258

Uinman-minanu, 56-59

Urartu, or Kingdom of Van (Armenia),

150, 185, 389
Urtaku, 193, 209

Zedekiah (Mattaniah) of Judah, 417,

418, 422, 427, 428
Zephaniah (the prophet), 317
Zeus Labraundos (on coin), 106
Zinjirli (or Sinjirli), Stele at, 154-158

m

m*

MASPERO, SIR G. C. C.

^-___

iistory of Egypt.